


Avengers' Tower: Steve's Gamble

by steve-capsicle-rogers (adorable_lab_rat)



Series: Living in Avengers' Tower [6]
Category: The Avengers (2012)
Genre: AU, Avengers Tower, Domestic Avengers, F/M, Gen, Het and Slash, M/M, Stony - Freeform, Superfamily, Superhusbands, and he HATES medical..., tony is completely oblivious
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-10
Updated: 2012-12-24
Packaged: 2017-11-11 20:07:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 67,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/482417
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adorable_lab_rat/pseuds/steve-capsicle-rogers
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“I need to know, JARVIS.  Something like this cannot happen again.  I was not completely aware of just how important it was until Coulson reacted.  If it had just been me the reaction time might not have been quick enough.  He could have died, JARVIS!” the strain was audible.  “I’m not watching someone else I care about die; especially when I could do something.” The AI could pick up the emotion in Captain Rogers’ voice and noted the distress.  As Sir had not explicitly stated that Captain Rogers could not receive the information JARVIS made an executive decision.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Tony HATES Medical

“Why the fuck is it _always_ New York City?  Seriously?  What is it about this fucking city?” Tony groused as he blasted a bot out of the way and dodged the return fire.  “And magic?  Why does _everyone_ and their _brother_ know magic?  Where are these people coming from?” Iron Man blasted past Thor who was currently beating back the opposition with Mjölnir.

“Iron Man, your left.” Captain America’s voice filtered through the comm as Iron Man jerked out of the way of an oncoming blast.

“Thanks, Cap.” The whine of a repulsor filled the air as Iron Man blasted upwards going towards the maniac controlling the chaos below.  He was struck hard in the right side causing the suit to actually cave in.  It was now cutting into his side and he felt his arm bend at an unnatural angle before he righted himself before shooting back towards the biggest threat.  Pain was being pushed back into the farthest corner of his mind.  Blackwidow dodged an attack and came up firing while Hawkeye picked off the attacker behind her from up high on a skyscraper.  Debris rained down as the Hulk flung himself through the air at one of the more aggressive bots as it began firing down at the Avengers who were mostly Earthbound.  Iron Man began firing, putting as much power behind each attack as possible and slightly more than JARVIS thought was advisable.  “Fucking ridiculous.” He growled it out as he dodged some kind of magic being thrown at him before he realized that his opponent was now aiming at Hawkeye who was protecting Captain America and Blackwidow’s backs as they were swarmed upon by several more bots.  Thor was making his way towards their direction having eliminated his own opponents and realizing his fellow warriors were in peril.

Hawkeye’s back was turned as he focused on the threat below and that momentary lapse gave an opening for an attack.  Iron Man threw everything into his repulsors and shot in front of the attack; the suit absorbed the blow and successfully blocked his teammate.  It was then that Hawkeye whipped around in time to see the lights in the Iron Man suit shutter and go dark as Iron Man fell from the sky towards the ground.  “Fuck!  Iron Man is down.”

“Someone catch Stark!” Coulson’s voice blasted through everyone’s comm as Iron Man plummeted closer to the ground.  The Hulk launched himself from the ground towards the Avenger rapidly coming towards Earth.  He wrapped his arms around Iron Man as gravity took him back to street level.  Thor had turned from his destination before he made his way towards Iron Man’s attacker and blasted him out of the sky.  He was fortunate that he had more experience in dealing with opponents who utilized magic.  That and the fact that the other man was distracted by Iron Man’s decent gave him an advantage.  The second that the man was unconscious, having lost his grip on the device he was holding, the bots lost their ability to maneuver and began crashing into objects, buildings and each other.  “Stark?  Stark?  Tony?  Can you hear me?” Coulson tried to rouse Iron Man and despite all his complaints, threats and glares towards Tony Stark he could not control the panic that was bleeding into his voice.  “Dammit, Stark.  Don’t you fucking do this.” It was an order that was not responded to and Coulson was rapidly losing composure.  That was one of _his_ Avengers and he’d be damned if he lost one.

Behind him Hawkeye and Coulson approached.

“Dammit, Stark.  What the hell were you thinking flinging yourself in front of me?” Clint glared down at Tony’s face because it was a better option than acknowledging the sinking feeling in his gut.  “You’re going to give Phil so much paperwork we’ll not see him for weeks.”

A short gasp and the eyes fluttered open; Tony Stark’s expression was pained and his face was pale.  The Arc Reactor remained dark.

“Tony.” It was said with relief as Steve Rogers started to relax, but Coulson was still tense and staring at the Iron Man’s chest.

“Stark.  Do you have any backup Arc Reactors?” his voice was urgent as he crouched down beside Tony.  Tony who was struggling to breathe and his hands were fluttering near his dead Arc Reactor.  He nodded and tried to sit up.  “Where are they?”

“Workshop.  Dummy knows.”

Coulson turned to Thor, “Can you get there quickly?” his voice was pressing.

“Yes, Son of Coul.” He sounded solemn, “But I have not been in the workshop before.”

Steve jerked to his feet and walked to Thor.  “I go down there all the time.  I’ll come.” Thor nodded, grabbed onto Steve and they shot off leaving the other Avengers behind to help their fallen teammate.

“What were you thinking?” Clint demanded as Tony tried not to focus on the pain.  This was going to be another close call and he’d been working so hard not to emphasize just _how_ important the Arc Reactor was to his life.  Just how quickly things could progress towards life threatening.  “I had everything under control!”

“I was thinking that I couldn’t let my teammate get hit by whatever that was…the suit can take more.  And your back was turned…you were helping the others.” Tony gave a halfhearted smile as he worked to ignore the stabbing pain.  “We need to get this off.  JARVIS, a little help please.”

“Of course, Sir.” Came the smooth voice and Tony could detect the slight worry in the AI’s voice.  The sounds of the Iron Man suit releases going off filled the air as it began to move.  Natasha got to her knees and began lifting the parts off carefully, mindful of the injured man beneath.  The gloves were easy as were the parts on his legs.  She stared at the caved in part of the chest plate and the damaged arm of the suit.  With great caution and steady hands she began to remove the damaged bits just as Thor hit the ground with Steve Rogers.  His arm was broken as was evidenced by its appearance and she’d seen enough broken limbs to spot one almost immediately, but he’d need to get an X-Ray to double check.  It was the damage to his side that was severe and she tried not to wince as Steve Rogers hit the ground next to her.

“How do I change it out?” he asked, worry coating his voice as his hands held the glowing Arc Reactor cautiously.  Tony carefully instructed him on exactly what to do and turned his head so as to not see the object that kept him alive taken from his chest.  It bothered him to see someone else remove it.  Obie had really not helped his already messed up self with that one.  Tony listened to the sounds that indicated the reactor was being removed, forced himself to breathe as close to regular as he could without causing himself more pain and then felt the hum of the replacement reactor.  It was ok.  Everything was fine with the world and that damn thing was in place.  His heart was safe once more.

Tony carefully sat up feeling Steve supporting him as he tried to get to his feet.  His right arm hung down at his side and was screaming in pain, but it had nothing on his side.  The damage on his side was really noticeable now.  Tony’s shirt was clinging to his side, coated in blood and pulling at the cuts when he moved.  He stared down at the armor and the dead Arc Reactor; the technology could not be left behind or trusted with SHIELD.  No one would get their hands on his tech.  It was his and he wasn’t sharing.  “I need—” he looked at the armor helplessly.

Clint bent down and started piling the smaller pieces onto one of the chest sections while Natasha began to do the same.  Steve wordlessly placed the dead reactor in Tony’s good hand.  The entire Avengers team made sure every single piece of the Iron Man suit was collected before they began the slow trek to the SHIELD vehicle.  No one said anything about Tony going to Medical because it would be pointless until he’d secured his suit in his workshop.

They eventually made it to Avengers’ Tower, to the huge elevator and then up to the main floor of the living quarters.  There was no way Tony was going to make it down the steps in his condition, but he moved to make the trip anyway.  “No, Tony.” Steve’s voice was firm as he steered the smaller man towards a chair.  “I’ll make sure every piece gets to your workshop and we’ll have JARVIS lock everything down, but you’re not going down those steps.” He stared down Tony’s stubborn expression as the other man’s shoulders slumped.

“Fine.”

Steve turned to the others and jerked his head in the direction of the stairs.  “Let’s get this done.  Then we’re all getting checked over by Medical.” His voice left no room for argument or protest.  He led the cluster of heroes down the steps while he held onto the Arc Reactor himself.  The sound of footsteps from the hallway caught his attention.

“Oh my God!  DAD?!  Are you ok?” Peter’s voice was worried and panicked.  The footsteps of the teenager picked up as he made a beeline for the injured Tony Stark.  _Good_.  Steve thought, someone to keep an eye on Tony in case he passed out or something worse happened.

Clint smirked slightly. “Stark needs someone to watch him.  I figured we were going to have to knock him out to get him to Medical.”

“Like you’re one to talk, Barton.” Natasha raised an eyebrow, “I vaguely recall several instances where you tried _ducktaping_ a wound.  I’ve knocked you out and dragged you there myself more times than I can count.”

The look on Steve’s face was one of horror.  “You have _ducktaped_ injuries?  What is _wrong_ with you?!”

“Would you look at that?  We’re at Stark’s workshop.  Enter the code, Cap.” Clint looked at him innocently.

“This isn’t over.  This is not going to continue.” Steve stared him down before typing in his code and pushing the door open.  Slowly the Iron Man suit was placed down as a couple of the computers lit up and JARVIS’ voice filtered throughout the lab.

“Place every piece together and I will begin the diagnostics scan.  Captain, if you will hand Dummy the Arc Reactor.” The British voice was slightly clipped as JARVIS began the scan, taking stock that every piece of armor was accounted for before beginning to run the diagnostics.  The Avengers slowly filed out one by one, heading up the stairs until Steve Rogers was left standing in the workshop alone.

“JARVIS.  How important is the Arc Reactor to Tony’s well-being?” he watched as Dummy rolled across the workshop with the dead Arc Reactor as a compartment opened up for him before the reactor was placed inside only to be sealed once more.

“Captain…” the AI’s voice was hesitant.

“I _need_ to know, JARVIS.  Something like this cannot happen again.  I was not completely aware of just _how_ important it was until Coulson reacted.  If it had just been me the reaction time might not have been quick enough.  He could have _died_ , JARVIS!” the strain was audible.  “I’m not watching someone else I care about die; especially when I could do something.” The AI could pick up the emotion in Captain Rogers’ voice and noted the distress.  As Sir had not explicitly stated that Captain Rogers could not receive the information JARVIS made an executive decision.

“Once you have returned from Medical I will explain the importance of the Arc Reactor.  As it stands Mr. Stark is refusing to go to Medical and the others are quickly reaching their breaking points.  I’m afraid you’re needed at the moment, Captain.”

Steve looked around the workshop one last time before heading towards the door, “I’ll hold you to that.” And then he was gone.  JARVIS watched him move up the stairs and in the direction of his creator.

“I know you will.” The voice was spoken out loud in the workshop and Dummy whirred before moving back across the workshop towards the Iron Man armor.  His camera focused on the damaged parts with what could be described as worry especially as he noted the blood on several pieces.

*

“I don’t want to go.” Tony’s voice was petulant as he stared at the door leading towards Medical.  “Nothing good _ever_ happens in there.”

Peter was standing next to him and offering him support as Tony noticeably struggled to remain standing upright.  Despite the injuries he was putting up a good resistance.  Steve wasn’t amused.  Without warning he smoothly scooped Tony up into his arms, mindful of the injuries and feeling the muscles in the other man tense.  A startled yelp escaped as Tony started to struggle, but went slack when pain flared up from his injuries.

“Damn you, Rogers.” Peter helpfully held open the door before following after them.  The other Avengers had already headed in with Coulson watching them like a hawk.  “I hate doctors.” He muttered as he cradled his arm to his chest so it didn’t jar when Steve walked.  Tony had noticed he was getting better regulating his breathing so it didn’t hurt and counted it as a win.

Peter eyed him with concern.  “Dad…you’ve bled all over your shirt and your arm is clearly broken.” Tony wouldn’t meet his eyes and looked anywhere but at the two people with him.  Several SHIELD personnel watched the procession of people with fascination.  A few with amusement as it was widely known that Tony Stark _hated_ Medical.

“I’ve had worse and no one forced me to go to the doctor.” He grumbled the last part and Steve felt his jaw clench.

“Well that won’t be happening anymore.  I can guarantee it.” It was a statement of fact and Tony’s jaw snapped shut as he glared off to the side as they neared the dreaded destination.  “It’s nice to know that I need to keep a closer eye on you.” Steve turned his head towards Peter, “Are you going to help me make sure he doesn’t duck Medical?”

Peter nodded with complete seriousness, “Yes.” Which earned a groan from Tony.

“What did I do to deserve this?” he asked aloud and heard Peter open the next door.  “I fucking _hate_ needles.  I just _know_ they’re going to stick me.  That’s what these people _do_.  They torture innocent, injured billionaires and stick them full of needles!”

“You’re being overly dramatic, Tony.” Steve sighed as he carefully placed the other man down and then used a hand to keep him in place.  The medical staff in the room watched Tony Stark wearily.  Steve didn’t blame them.  The last time when Tony had been brought in unconscious he’d jerked awake when they’d been taking blood and had proceeded to flip out on them.  Many things were destroyed in the aftermath and a few people might have been sobbing.  Steve tried not to think about it.

It took five minutes before one of the nurses had a needle.  Tony flinched, but locked his jaw.  By the time a third needle was coming in his direction, “I’M NOT A FUCKING PINCUSHION!”  Steve was then forced to help restrain Tony so the other man wouldn’t hurt himself further.  Peter watched on in muted horror.

Lots of drugs and far too many hours later saw Tony heading out of the door against doctor’s orders.  He’d also refused the meeting with Nick Fury he’d been informed about shortly after arriving because after that torture session he was not putting up with Cyclops.  No way.  Then came the painkillers.  The only highlight of the whole trip.  He moved to look at the supersoldier who was watching him carefully and grinned goofily at him.  “They have amazing drugs.”

Steve chuckled and Peter choked on a laugh.  “Do they?”

“You have _no idea_!” Tony explained gesturing wildly with his left arm.  The other was wrapped up in a cast and hanging in the blue sling he’d been given.  “Everything feels great and are my feet still there?” he looked down at his feet and then up with amazement.  “Wow.”  His eyes were wide and he looked over at Peter next who was shaking with suppressed laughter.  “I’m so glad I adopted you.” He beamed and floated on the drugs.  Everything was hazy and nothing was wrong.  “Never thought I would get to have a family of my own and now look at me!  I actually found people who _want_ to be around me.” He looked so pleased with himself and unrestrained.

Peter’s eyes softened and Steve tried not to think about the implications that declaration had.  “I’m glad you adopted me too.  You’re a great dad.” The response earned a delighted look from Tony.  The rest of the Avengers stood as the group of three neared them.

“HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” Tony called waving wildly.  Coulson’s eye twitched as Clint doubled over laughing.  Thor beamed back and copied Tony’s wild waving.

“HELLO SHIELD BROTHER!” he boomed causing those who were not already staring to turn towards the Avengers.  “HOW ARE YOUR WOUNDS FAIRING?”

“I CAN’T FEEL MY FEET!” Tony continued to approach as Steve shook his head behind him, sighing with exasperation.

Whoever had thought that giving Tony those painkillers wasn’t thinking clearly.  Though Steve figured they thought if they drugged him up enough then he’d stop being the world’s worse patient.  Idly he didn’t blame them.  A look of concern took over Thor’s features.  “What have they done to you, Man of Iron?” he stared down at Tony’s feet seeing them still there and trying to figure out what was wrong with them.  “I have experienced these Midgard doctors before.  I did not like them.” He frowned and stepped forward.  “Have they injured you?” there was a hint of threat in the tone that had a couple of the agents around flinching back.

Tony stared at him in confusion, the drugs fogging his mind and things were rapidly becoming harder to connect as they worked through his system.  “Umm…” he turned towards Peter.  “Did they injure me?”

“No.  I made sure you were safe.” It was said with a serious note that caused Tony to nod with a serious expression.  Tony turned to Thor while the others just stood back and watched the free show.  Bruce was shaking his head.  It was obvious those doctors had done this intentionally.  He’d been there for Tony’s last Medical visit and still remembered the carnage left in the genius’ wake.

“It appears as though they did not injure me.” Tony looked around before focusing back on his teammates once more.

Thor stared at him and took in the new additions to Tony’s person.  “What is that apparatus on your arm?” Tony stared down at his arm and couldn’t see what Thor was talking about.  He help up his left arm and looked at Thor with confusion evident in his features.

“Tony…he means your right arm.  The sling.” Steve’s voice was careful as he placed a hand on Tony’s back.  “Let’s get you home.  The doctor mentioned those painkillers might make you loopy.  You should rest after all the tests and getting your bone set.  It’ll be good for you.”

“Home.”

Natasha stared at Tony slightly worried, “What did they give him?” she questioned as they made for the doors.

“Way too much.” Was the only response.

Clint walked next to Coulson and couldn’t wipe the grin off his face if the world was ending.  “This version of Stark might just be my favorite.  Do you think Medical would give me some of those drugs for later?”

Coulson stared at Clint with his face blank and a decidedly blasé expression on his face.  “I will shoot you, Barton.  It will be without regret.”

“But you looooooooooove me!” He grinned cheekily as they stepped outside of the SHIELD HQ and headed towards the limo Happy was standing near.  “You wouldn’t kill me.”

“I never said anything about death, Barton.” Coulson raised an eyebrow as Clint directed hurt puppy eyes at his lover, lower lip jutting out.

“HEY AGENT!  CAN I WEAR YOUR SUNGLASSES?” Tony’s voice cut through the stare off going on and caused Coulson to turn unimpressed eyes in Tony’s direction.  He didn’t bother responding as he continued towards the rest of his Avengers.

Clint walked along, “You would have missed him had something happened.” It was said knowingly.  “I would have too.  This is the second time he has done this…you’re lucky you were unconscious the last time.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Barton.  Maybe you should have gotten a CT scan.  I think you might have suffered a blow to the head recently.” Coulson remembered watching the news clips, reading the accounts and hearing the stories.

Clint paused, “I haven’t suffered a blow to the head.”

“Would you like to?” Coulson returned.

“…no.”

 


	2. Tony Isn't a Fan of Recovery

Tony stared around the Tower with drug influenced eyes, his arm hung limply in the sling and idly he realized he was sleepy.  His brown eyes drooped slightly as he fought back the increasingly fuzzy feeling his head was currently experiencing.  He didn’t realize he was leaning sideways until he felt the solid lines of Steve and idly realized he was tucked into the taller man’s side; were it not for Steve’s physical presence right there he would have kept falling sideways.

“Oh, Tony.” There was warmth in the voice and fondness, but Tony’s hazy mind was scrambling to figure out why everyone was giving him those looks.  “Let’s get you to bed.” Steve moved to guide him towards the elevator, but Tony discovered he wasn’t going to be moving from his current spot.  Especially since the world was losing focus and he could feel his mind shutting down.  Needing to reboot from the physical and emotional trauma of the day; the drugs were only speeding up the process but Tony was a fighter.  He wasn’t going down yet.

“I don’t want to move.” He mumbled, tripping over simple words, focusing every last bit he had left on pushing back the drowsiness.  “Everythings…fuzzy.” Tony closed his eyes and moved his uninjured arm to his forehead trying to will away the effects of the medication.

“Dad?” Peter’s voice came from his left and sounded concerned.  “It’s ok.  SHIELD gave you some medicine for the pain…you’re just tired.”

“Hmmm.” Tony hummed idly as he tried to right himself, but only succeed in leaning heavily into Steve’s side.

“I’ve got you.” Steve moved carefully making sure to keep Tony upright as he carefully scooped his teammate up into his arms.  “There.  We’ll get you upstairs.  Peter can you grab his medicine, a couple water bottles and meet me in Tony’s room?”

“Sure.” Peter collected the pills from Coulson who held the bag out silently and then headed towards the kitchen while Steve went to Tony’s room.

Once the others were sure their teammates and the newest member were gone Natasha looked around, “He is so far gone over Stark it almost isn’t funny.”

Clint nodded and dropped into a chair.  “It is only a matter of time.”

“I thought the Man of Iron preferred females?” Thor sounded confused as he looked at the others, not having any awareness of the bet that Natasha, Clint and Bruce had placed.

All eyes turned towards Coulson who stared back at them with a blank stare.  “Well?  Do you know if Stark swings that way?” Clint raised an eyebrow.  “I’m sad to admit it, but I can never figure out someone’s preference until I’m seeing them in action or they’ve told me straight out.”

Natasha’s lips twitched, “During the entire time I was undercover at Stark Industries I never heard anything about Tony having any male lovers.  It was all females otherwise we might have sent Clint instead.”

Coulson frowned, “We would have sent someone else over Barton.” His voice was firm and Clint grinned wickedly.

“Pepper would know.” Natasha sounded thoughtful, “But I have never heard anything of him taking a male partner or entertaining the idea.  Wouldn’t it have been in his file somewhere?”  
  


Bruce frowned and looked at the doorway, “Is this going to end in tears?” a tense silence filled the space as each member tried to figure out if it mattered to Tony what sex his partner was or if Steve was about to get his heart broken.  There was always the potential that if Steve made a move Tony would react negatively or freak out.  The possibilities seemed endless at this point.

“When I found out that Stark was going to be on the same team as Captain America I was thinking this was going to be the other way around.  Especially since Steve Rogers lived during World War II and we all know the feelings of people back then about same-sex partners.” Coulson frowned.  “Now I have to worry about Stark being traumatized further than he already is at this point.  I don’t think he has noticed…” he trailed off as Clint snickered slightly.  “Having your friend come on to you out of nowhere might not help with Stark’s…issues.”

“I think Tony believes its friendship.  The whole time I was observing him I noticed that he didn’t seem to interact with others very well.” Natasha sighed as she sunk into a chair as well.  “Though he was dying during that time so it might not be the best experience to base an opinion off of…plus there was a lot of alcohol involved during some of it.  We all know Tony has a public persona that he puts on for everyone outside of his closest acquaintances.  Tony would probably prefer to spend all his time in his workshop with his bots and JARVIS.  Steve is almost always around him…”

*

Tony was half asleep by the time Steve reached his room.  “Ok, Tony.  We need to get you into something more comfortable.” He looked around the room as Peter came in, “Can you set those on the bedside table and grab something for him to change into?  The extra set of clothes he changed into is not going to work.” Peter wandered over to the dresser and started pulling open doors until he found nightclothes.  He grabbed some red night pants and walked back.

“I figured it would be easier to not put him into another shirt.” Peter held the pants out for Steve who stared at him and then Tony who was still supported in his arms.

“Ok, Tony.  I’m going to put you on your feet and then you’re going to need to put these pants on.” Steve carefully put Tony on his feet and watched as the other man swayed with his eyes barely open.

“Sleep.” He moaned and tried to find his bed.

“Change clothes first.”

Tony stared at the pants Steve was mentioning before looking at Peter who was watching them and then at himself. “Umm…help?” he asked with a slightly hopeful tone.  Steve’s cheeks tinted pink slightly as he tried to ignore the implications of Tony’s request.  Tony wanted him, Steve Rogers, to help him undress.

“You’ll be fine.”

Peter watched the interaction and noticed the look on Steve’s face before a light bulb went off.  His eyes snapped to look at Tony who was so far gone from the drugs and sleepiness that he didn’t appear to be aware of much of anything.

“Please, Steve.” Tony took a step and swayed again.  “I can’t really lift my arms.” He blinked slowly and heard the sigh that Steve released.

“Fine.” It earned a relieved grin as Tony moved to unbutton the front of his pants and moved them down as best he could.  When he couldn’t move anymore without feeling pain he stared at Steve who carefully moved forward so as to assist Tony.  He instructed Tony to lean on the bedside table as he carefully removed his pants before helping him step into the night pants.  Tony blinked down at him as Steve carefully stood before moving to help Tony out of his shirt.  “I’m going to remove the sling so we can get your arm out of your shirt and then we’ll put it back on, ok?” he made sure to explain everything he was doing so if Tony had an objection he could make it.

“Is it going to hurt?” he asked carefully not wanting that again.  Tony was tired of being in pain, of having to ice down his Iron Man suit testing injuries and being poked by SHIELD Medical Staff.  He was going to blame Fury.  Somehow it was his fault.  If they would just leave him to himself, let him deal with his own injuries everything would be fine and he wouldn’t have to worry about someone possibly damaging his Arc Reactor.  The machine that kept him alive.

Steve locked eyes with him, his face a mask of seriousness.  “I will do my best to make sure if you feel any pain it will be minimal.”

“Ok.” Tony shifted his injured arm, mindful of the wrap on his side and gritted his teeth.  He watched as Steve carefully removed the sling making sure he lowered his arm slowly before Steve moved to take the shirt off.  Tony felt a slight twinge of pain at the movement, but the drugs running through his system dulled any he might have experienced.

Peter watched the entire scene feeling overly protective.  He knew Steve Rogers was a good man who obviously cared about Tony, but in Tony’s current state he was unable to really focus on anything going on.  So Tony needed someone to protect him because he wasn’t in any position to do so himself.  Eyes watched Tony’s face for any sign of pain or distress, but Steve was careful, professional and made sure any time he touched Tony it was for a necessary reason.  Peter relaxed, he didn’t believe he had enough strength from that spider to best Captain America, but he could help Tony out if needed.  This was the closest he’d ever really gotten to a father figure in his life since his biological father had disappeared so many years ago, someone who cared for him, nurtured his interests and dropped everything in order to give Peter a stable home with a family.

“Ok.  If you need _anything_ say something to JARVIS and he can let one of us know.  You’re not to lift anything.  JARVIS, you’ll make sure Tony doesn’t hurt himself further, right?” Steve asked the AI as Tony got under the covers.

“Of course, Captain.  If Sir requires anything I’ll make sure to inform one of his teammates.” Steve smiled slightly as he looked down at Tony who was burrowed in his covers.  Soft breathing could be heard as he noted that Tony had already given up the battle of staying awake. 

“He has a medicine schedule.  Do you need me to let you know or are you already hacking into SHIELD to get the information?” he sounded amused while he watched Peter check Tony over.

“Already obtained the necessary information.  Has Mr. Stark had anything since the Medical staff of SHIELD last noted his dosages?” JARVIS asked before listing everything he had from the file.

“No.  He hasn’t had anything.  Tony has close to four hours before his next pain medicine dosage.” Steve headed towards the door leaving Peter in Tony’s bedroom.

*

As it turned out Tony did not like being prevented from working on Iron Man repairs.  It wasn’t a big shock.  Once he’d figured out which movements resulted in pain and which didn’t Tony wanted to be down in his workshop.  Not the little one he’d had built for his personal floor.  He’d also been dodging Fury’s calls for several days.  Peter was currently down in Tony’s workshop watching as Tony moved about looking over the damaged Iron Man suit.  He wasn’t picking anything up but manipulating the holograms with his good hand.  Picking parts he wanted to keep and making improvements as he went.  Dummy was lifting whatever he could to help Tony and hovering closely as Peter watched from the couch.  It was then that he heard an alarm going off and JARVIS’ voice interrupted.

“Director Fury has overridden the access codes, Sir, with his own.”

“Fuck.” Tony groaned as he sunk down in his chair as Peter looked up and stared at the door.  “Don’t let him in…” he trailed off as Fury was already coming into the workshop.  Dummy was aware of Tony’s injuries; now hearing the distress as well as already having record of Fury’s interactions with his creator he quickly moved across the floor before Fury’s mouth even opened.  “You don’t have authorization to be down here, Fury.”

“Stark!  You have failed to—” Nick Fury’s voice was raised as Dummy intercepted him and began shooting him with the fire extinguisher.  Tony was up and moving before Fury could react as Dummy had moved from spraying Fury to physically shoving him towards the entrance.  Peter clapped a hand over his mouth so he wasn’t laughing out loud as Fury’s eye started twitching.  He started to move into action as Tony stepped between Dummy and Fury just as the SHIELD Director drew his gun.

“You so much as scratch my bot and I’ll kill you with my bare hands.” Tony’s voice was steel as he stared into the barrel of Fury’s gun.  “One fucking scratch.”

Dummy whirred angrily and rolled across the room towards the emergency panel that Pepper had forced Tony to install in case he was unable to call for help.  The bot activated it even as Peter was moving across the workshop to Tony’s side on the off chance he was needed.  He didn’t like the look on the other man’s face and had no problem tapping into Spider-Man’s strength, speed and abilities if it meant keeping his new dad safe from harm.  Keeping it a secret be damned.

“You’ll not ignore me, Stark!” Fury was in Tony’s face, eyes narrowed in anger.  “You’re a part of SHIELD, the Avengers Initiative, which brings you under my command.”

Despite his injuries Tony was still going toe to toe with arrogance, disdain and anger present on his face.  “You’re not my boss.  Not my leader and you are sure as hell not in charge of me!  I don’t have to answer to you!  I’m not jumping when you say jump.  I’m not a soldier, Fury, and as I told Steve once I will not march to your fife.” His features twisted into a mutinous expression.

The door to the workshop opened and Steve Rogers was striding across the floor towards the two yelling men.  “Director.  What are you doing here?” he questioned, tone cool and eyes hard.  Steve moved close to Tony and Peter causing Fury to back up a few steps.  He was the leader, he was in charge of the Avengers and their welfare was the most important thing to him.  Tony was injured and therefore vulnerable.  Steve would be lying if he said he wasn’t protective of those he cared about and the fact that Fury seemed to have tried to corner the wounded man didn’t sit well with him.

“This has nothing to do with you, Captain.  I’m here with regards to Stark.” Fury gave Steve an unimpressed look before his eyes shifted back to the injured Tony who was still glaring at him.

“With all due respect, _sir_ , Tony has been temporarily placed in my care while he is recovering from his injuries and I don’t believe having you _yelling_ at him is good for his recovery.  I will have to ask you to leave Avengers’ Tower immediately.  You’ll not be permitted back on the premises until otherwise stated.” The threat was obvious in Steve Rogers’ tone as he shifted slightly in front of Tony.  Captain America was obvious in every line of his body and the command in his voice.  Dummy raised the fire extinguisher in what could only be described as a threatening manner.  “Dummy seems to agree with me.”

Director Fury drew himself up and met Steve’s eyes, “I will not forget this insubordination, Captain.”

“As I will _never_ forget your deceit and the distress you caused my teammates.” His voice was even and full of restrained anger.  Tony stuck his tongue out at Fury in what was a decidedly childish manner.  “The door is that way.” Steve jerked his head towards the exit and watched as Nick Fury turned on his heel before heading towards the door.  “JARVIS, make sure he goes straight towards the exit.”

“And revoke any clearance that anyone who I have not already vetted through your system currently processes.  This overriding of my security cannot go on any longer!  I want Fury’s access codes and override codes removed from my system.  All of them.” Tony began to move towards his work area with Dummy following.  He turned towards the bot and ran an affectionate hand down Dummy’s braces.  “You did a good job protecting me, didn’t you?” he grinned slightly.  Dummy whirred happily as he waved the fire extinguisher in a manner reminiscent of victory.

A voice behind Tony stopped his progression towards his work, “What is this I hear about you standing in front of Director Fury’s _gun_?”

Tony winced slightly, “He was going to shoot Dummy and all Dummy was doing was trying to protect me.”  Peter looked between the two of them and recognized the look on Steve’s face.  He beat a hasty retreat towards the exit glancing back before heading up the stairs.

“Fine.” It was obviously painful for Steve to say that, “But next time please don’t do something that stupid.  What if he’d fired before he realized you were there?  While I understand that Dummy is _very_ important to you he can be repaired if something does happen, but you’re a human and therefore cannot be repaired as easily.”

As he listened to Steve’s words Tony glared off to the side, “He can’t just threaten _my_ bot like that, Steve.  Dummy is _mine_ and no one hurts what is mine.  I won’t stand for it.  And in my own home!  Fury just thinks he can come in here, order me around and expect me to follow his orders like a good little soldier.  They didn’t even _want_ me in the Avengers’ Initiative.  They wanted _Iron Man_ but not _Tony Stark_ ; which really isn’t all that surprising considering that no one really wants Tony Stark.  I don’t need SHIELD.  Iron Man was created without any awareness of SHIELD’s existence.”

Steve stared at Tony taking in the broken arm, the various cuts and bruises, the slightly wild hair and the defiance.  Who wouldn’t want Tony Stark?  He wanted so badly to wrap the other man up and shield him from the world.  It wasn’t logical.  Couldn’t be normal.  Who could have these kinds of irrational feelings all the time?  “That’s not true.  We want you.  The Avengers want you…we _need_ you, Tony.  Who cares what Fury said before?  If it wasn’t for you New York City would have been blown off the Earth.  All those innocent people would be dead.  Everyone in this Tower would be gone.  You’re important Tony, you’re worth so much.  Look at everything you’ve achieved, all those you have saved and now you’re working on a clean energy project that will only benefit others.”

Tony sighed, “Must be the medication.  It’s messing me up.”

He would allow that scapegoat, Tony obviously needed it.  “Must be.  Did you eat anything with your pain medication?”

The look on Tony’s face said it all.  “I planned on eating, but I wanted to get these upgrades put in.” Steve glanced around to make sure Tony hadn’t been lifting anything.  “It was hologram, Steve.  No lifting.” It was slightly bitter.

Tony was pouting and Steve knew that the other man hated not being able to get his hands dirty, to build machines, tear machines apart…invent.  His injuries were preventing Tony from doing what he loved and the other man was obviously bitter about it.  But the damage to his side and the broken arm needed to heal.  There was nothing he could do to help.  “Let’s go upstairs.” He watched as Tony glanced around the room before nodding slowly.  He’d been down there for nine hours anyway; a break might not be too bad.  Steve looked over at Dummy, “Thank you Dummy for watching him and calling me.  Sometimes Tony needs someone to protect him.”

The bot whirred at him before grasping Steve’s shirt with his claw.  Dummy tugged on him.  “I’ll watch him for you, how is that Dummy?”

At this Dummy released Steve’s shirt before rolling away.  Tony slowly made his way over to Steve.  “Thanks for chasing off Fury.  I’ve really got to take out all of those security codes and fix the—”

“Tomorrow.”

The sigh was slightly pained, “Fine.  Tomorrow.”  Tony had just wanted to escape his room.  He loved that bed and being able to work on a few concepts on his Starkpad, but he’d been confined to the Tower since he’d come back from Medical.  He wanted fresh air.  “Can we go…somewhere?  I want out.  I need out…if I can’t work on my projects I need to move.  Anything.”

“Sure.  Anywhere in particular you want to go?” Steve glanced over at Tony as they moved up the stairs. 

“What haven’t you seen yet?” Tony offered a slight grin as they reached the top of the stairs.

Steve paused and gave it honest thought as his mind went over all the places around New York City that he had yet to visit.  They’ve ventured out of New York on a few occasions, but there were still a few close to home he’d not checked out.  “The Metropolitan Museum of Art?”

“Is that a question or a statement?” Tony raised an eyebrow as he headed towards the kitchen.  He was past due on his medicine.

“I didn’t know if that would appeal to you or if you were hoping for something else.”

A sigh escaped, “I’ve been there for events, charities and fundraisers…I’ve never actually visited the Museum so I’m not really aware of everything it has to offer.” Tony took his pills and turned back to Steve, “I wouldn’t mind a trip to the Met.  But first let’s get some food.”

*

Tony was grinning at him from inside the limo as they headed back towards Avengers’ Tower.  He’d dragged Tony around the whole place.  It had been closing and a few words from Tony granted them a private viewing of the Museum after hours.  “So?” Tony raised an eyebrow, “What’s the verdict?”

“My favorite Art Museum to date.”

“I’ve lost track of how many Museums I’ve been to since everyone moved in to the Tower.” Tony leaned back in the seat and closed his eyes as he listened to the sound of the vehicle, Steve’s breathing and the hum of the Arc Reactor.  It was peaceful and relaxing.  “Never thought they would be enjoyable.” The smile on his face was soft now.

He didn’t realize what he was doing until he’d leaned forward and captured Tony Stark’s lips with his own.  They were soft and warm and everything he’d imagined.  All of his senses were filled with Tony and Steve wished he could capture the moment because he was terrified it was a dream.  A soft gasp reached his ears as Tony’s eyes, hooded, looked at him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I might have left a 'little' cliff-hanger...
> 
> I'm torn on my favorite part for this chapter...I do love Dummy.


	3. Tony Never Saw it Coming

Tony Stark had always firmly believed that in order to survive any amount of time in a museum one needed to consume large quantities of alcohol and be prepared with an excuse to leave early.  He’d never imagined in a million years that Captain America, Steve Rogers, would be leading him all over the place to so many museums/art galleries/touristy spots.  Or that he’d actually enjoy it.  Without the alcohol.  Sitting with Steve in the limo Tony couldn’t help but grin at the obvious enthusiasm his friend was still bubbling over with as he asked Steve what the verdict was on the latest trip.

“My favorite Art Museum to date.” Something warm filled Tony as he looked at Steve who was grinning back at him. 

It was hard to even begin to count the number of museums Steve had taken him to visit and he couldn’t help but voice the thoughts out loud before leaning back in the seat.  He could feel his muscles relaxed as his eyes closed; his brain for once wasn’t running a million miles a second and there was nothing he was worrying about.  But nothing could have prepared him for the increase of warmth surrounding his body as Steve Rogers moved into his space, closing the distance between the two of them to nothing and he felt his breath stolen by the other man.

Blank.  Tony Stark’s mind was completely blank.  His eyes opened slightly to stare at Steve’s face and the expression of complete intent, care and fondness.  There were so many emotions that were flying across the supersoldier’s face and Tony wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to place them all.  He’d never kissed another man before.  Never.  Self-declared playboy and he’d only chased after the opposite-sex.  He had only recently wondered if his feelings for Steve were simply a deep friendship or maybe something more...then he’d almost died again and ended up severely injured. 

Tony’s mind flew into action, flying through everything and analyzing it all.

Steve’s lips on his own weren’t repulsive, didn’t cause him to cringe or feel disgust.  He had no impulse to pull away or shove the other man.  Instead he kind of wanted to drag Steve closer because he couldn’t think of a time when he’d ever had someone so completely focused on him in such a way.  Pepper was the closest that he could think of, but he’d known her for so long that the relationship had almost seemed to naturally progress into something more than friends.  But she hadn’t kissed him like the world was ending and he was the only thing keeping her alive.  Hadn’t kissed him like she wanted to crawl inside him and never leave.  As though he was everything right in the world because Tony was probably everything _wrong_ in the world and she’d known that.

Steve kissed with everything he was, everything he had and filled it with so many promises of more.  Tony gasped.  And then he was looking into those blue eyes that were staring at him and he belatedly realized he’d not responded.  Carefully his uninjured hand came up to Steve’s neck and he pulled him back towards his lips.  This time Tony was an active participant, trying to find a connection and trying to quantify his feelings.  The feelings he’d been trying to figure out if they were something more…if Steve was something more to him than a friend.  He would not allow this to be a fling, a one nightstand.  He couldn’t.  Steve Rogers had rapidly become something stable in his life and a guarantee that everything would still be standing at the end of the day.  Tony could recall few things in his life that were completely stable.  If he was going to pursue this he couldn’t play with the other’s emotions or his own.

While they kissed he could feel Steve’s arms slowly snaking around his body as the supersoldier effortlessly moved him into his lap without breaking the kiss.  He could feel those muscles moving slightly with the little effort Steve had needed and knew the other man had unparalleled strength when it came to your average human.  And Tony was your average human and he was finding that he quite enjoyed that superhuman strength.

Tony allowed his mind to analyze his feelings, reactions and thoughts.  He looked back at their interactions and without even thinking about it his mind went over possible concerns.  Would this work out?  What was the likelihood of it going pear-shaped?  Was he going to ruin Steve Rogers?  Would he destroy that boy from Brooklyn?  Would this be that final nail in his coffin of the things Tony Stark has fucked up?

Could he actually risk putting himself out there again?  After he blew it with Pepper?

But he was Tony Stark and his results were indicating that he did feel something.  That Steve meant more to him than just a friend.  That this wasn’t a one nightstand situation.  Steve Rogers cared for him, protected him and fought for him.  He went against others for Tony and he’d never forget the look on the other man’s face when he’d almost been hit by a cab.  Or all of the times he’d woken from being injured.  The look that came with the realization that the Arc Reactor was necessary for Tony’s life and that it had stopped working.  Steve never left him alone when he had to go into SHIELD Medical because he _knew_ that Tony _needed_ reassurance that he’d be ok.

That warm feeling in his chest.  He rarely experienced it and not anything so noticeable.  Steve moved away from his lips and trailed down to his neck giving Tony a chance to breathe.  He could hear soft murmurs from the other man, but instead of working his hardest to understand them he instead looked at what he was feeling.  What was that feeling?  His mind went over experiences that had produced it.

The first time that he could recall was when Steve had brought him along to Coney Island and Steve couldn’t contain his excitement.  Telling stories about growing up in Brooklyn and various experiences he’d had with amusement park rides.  Steve’s face had been full of longing, excitement and bittersweet happiness.  He’d grinned at Tony then, wrapping his hand around his wrist and pulled him towards the line for the Cyclone.  Tony had allowed himself to be swept up into the other’s enthusiasm and stories.  He’d wondered at the warmth filling his chest for most of the day.  Not once had he thought of the breakup with Pepper.

Steve’s hands were everywhere all at once, their bodies as close as they could be with Tony’s injuries, the touches from Steve were light, careful and hinted at so much more.  Then his lips were back on Tony’s and he didn’t hold back the moan that escaped as he struggled to focus on his current mental task.

That feeling was almost always present when Steve was around.  This time the gasp that escaped Tony’s mouth wasn’t due to the soft lips currently paying close attention to him.  Tony genuinely _cared_ about Steve Rogers.  He cared about Steve as a person, a teammate, a friend, a confidant, a companion…it went beyond all of those previous designations he’d applied to Steve Rogers.  The feeling was stronger than what he’d had with Pepper.  It went a little further.  With Pepper he’d tried to make it work, had tried to force something that wasn’t truly there on the level it needed to be.  He loved Pepper.  He’d die to protect her because she meant so much to him and had been there for him through so much.  He wouldn’t ignore that feeling he’d had; she’d been the first person he’d honestly _loved_ , but they didn’t fit together.  She’d been pulled in far too many directions when it came to Tony Stark.  Maybe Steve was the right one?  Tony had in some dark corner of his soul believed he belonged by himself, that he didn’t deserve for someone to actually care for him and want to be with him; for someone to love him.  It’s what made it so much easier to have flings and shamelessly flirt with others because in the long run it wouldn’t matter and fun was fun, right?

The strong hands touching him, caressing him…holding onto him as though he was the most important thing in the world belonged to Steve Rogers.  Someone he’d never thought of having a relationship with.  He’d never really entertained the idea of a male partner.  Tony wasn’t entertaining that thought right now either. 

He was committed to making it a reality.

“Steve.” It was husky and desperate.  Tony sighed as he could feel Steve noticeably pulling back, pushing all of that pent up emotion and feeling back in order to focus on Tony.

“Tony.” It was said softly and those blue eyes were staring into Tony’s once more.  Completely focused on him.  There wasn’t even a question that every part of Steve Rogers was focused on Tony Stark.

“Why?” he needed the answer more than anything.  Needed to know _why_ someone so good and perfect and pure wanted someone like him.  Someone who had the blood of millions on his hands.  He could never save enough lives to make up for that past.  He would try his hardest.  Steve had always worked to do the right thing.  He’d never profited from destruction like Tony had.  Tony was tainted, stained beyond compare.

Steve stared at him and clearly took the question to heart.  He was honestly giving it thought instead of just saying whatever he thought Tony wanted to hear.  It was refreshing.  “I think it might go back to watching you with that nuke on your back.” Now those blue eyes were unfocused, back to the moment he was speaking of.  “I’d never been so wrong in my entire life.  Part of me in that moment was angry that I had been wrong because it should have been me giving up my life.  The life I shouldn’t have even had.  I should have died during the War and you shouldn’t have been in that position.  But you were and you didn’t even hesitate.  I realized it was something other than friendship when I was down in the workshop watching you interacting with Dummy.  You were…grounding him from watching _The Iron Giant_ because he’d sprayed you with the fire extinguisher while you were testing an Iron Man upgrade.  He slumped and you got this resigned look on your face before having JARVIS turn the show on.  You called him a _spoiled brat_.  I didn’t put a name to those feelings for a little while longer…” he trailed off thinking of the interaction with Pepper at her office.  He was not admitting to that.  Nope.  Not touching that conversation with a fifty foot pole.

“Uh…” it was so eloquent that Tony wanted to pat himself on the back for such a clearly brilliant response.  Honestly.  “You do realize I was covered in grease and foam.  Plus talking to bots is considered slightly…insane.  Right?  You realize this?” Tony raised an eyebrow at Steve having no idea the picture he painted with the mused hair.

Steve’s fingers itched to do several things to the man on his lap.  He wanted to get a hold of a pencil because he needed to capture this on paper.  Possibly make it into a huge picture for his room…or maybe he could eventually keep the actual person in his room?

“So?” he watched Tony’s face, a face he could draw from memory alone, as he thought about his response.  “I’m down in the workshop all the time, Tony.  I saw you when Peter caused that bag of flour to hit the floor and explode covering both of you.  I’ve seen you sick, injured, happy, sad, angry, sleepy, as a child and everything in between.  Why would I care if you were covered in anything?  And talking to your bots?  Dummy attacked and threatened Director Fury today before hitting the emergency button to get someone’s attention.  I can’t see how talking to him or any of your bots is insane.  They’re very…human in several ways and clearly care for you.” He shrugged slightly before reaching up a hand to touch Tony.  “I don’t think you’re going to talk me out of my feelings, Tony.”

“I’m…” Tony floundered.  This was new territory.  “I don’t know what I’m doing.  I’m going to fuck this up…I just know it and then it’ll destroy the Avengers and Coulson will _kill_ me and Fury will get that knowing look on his face because that Cyclopes KNOWS I fuck everything up—” he was rambling and mentally screaming at himself to shut up because Steve was staring at him.  “I have no…idea what I’m doing here.  I’ve actually never—” finally his mouth stopped moving, hallelujah, with silence now filling the limo.  But it was too late because Tony Stark’s insecurities, those annoying things he tried to keep hidden, were out in the open now.

Steve was staring at him in surprise which quickly gave way to genuine pleasure.  “You’ve never had a male partner before?” he asked softly and it made him want that much more to drag Tony closer.  But he had to be careful of the injuries the other man had.  Steve knew about Tony being a playboy, but all along he’d assumed that Tony had both male and females in his bed.  That he’d never be able to measure up to that.

“No.” Tony was trying not to let it show that he was on shaky and unfamiliar ground…that it had left him struggling to figure out what he should be doing and didn’t that sound pathetic?  Honestly…it couldn’t be that different or he’d have heard something along those lines.  But Coulson and Clint’s relationship wasn’t a template he wanted to use at the moment.  Those two were…different.

Steve felt that little bit of nerves, of tension he’d been harboring under the impression that Tony would be disappointed in him for not being as experienced as previous partners, vanish.  Tony not knowing everything was such a nice change of pace.  He’d been struggling so hard to figure out where he fit in the world, trying to understand the changes in interactions, roles and technology that he’d forgotten what it felt like to be the one who had the knowledge.  The answers.  The person who _knew_ what was going on without having to question it.  He’d had to keep his interest in males a secret in his time while being pushed towards discovering his interest in females.  Peggy had been the first female who had truly captured his attention, but she wasn’t completely like all the others in his time.  His interest had really been peaked when she’d punched his fellow soldier out.  Truthfully Steve had been worried that with Tony’s experience he’d feel overwhelmed.  “Is there something wrong?” Steve needed to be sure because the usually confident Tony Stark was nowhere to be seen; instead a slightly confused one sat on his lap.

Those dark eyebrows pulled down in thought, “Is this going to make things awkward or something?  This isn’t going…you do know I have a horrible track record for relationships, right?” his cheeks flushed with embarrassment.  This was just pathetic.  He was Tony Stark.  This should not be awkward.  It should be easy.  Charm.  Confidence.  The right words and actions.  Cut and dry.  But this wasn’t the same.  It was new.

“Don’t overthink it.” Steve leaned forward, kissed him carefully before leaning back and staring at Tony’s face.  “Just…be Tony.  That’s what caught my interest to begin with.  Don’t change.  I know you; I _want_ Tony Stark.”

Steve couldn’t place the look that stole over Tony’s face before the other man had fisted his free hand into the front of his shirt, pulling himself closer to Steve.  “Just be Tony?  I can do that.” And Tony Stark took control of the kisses, his free hand not letting go of Steve’s shirt and he grinned into the kiss when he sensed the surprise in Steve.  It wasn’t hard to be Tony and when Tony wanted to he could be incredibly selfish.  He wanted this and he was going to go for it.  Awkwardness be damned.

*

Steve glanced sideways at the clock, 4:02am, before he looked around the silent floor.  No one was around.  Tony was still standing in the elevator, eyes drooping slightly, waiting for Steve to grab his medicine.  JARVIS took them to Tony’s floor and they stumbled along towards his room.  He placed the bottles on the bedside table with the bottle of water before turning around to see Tony by this dresser without his shirt.  The Arc Reactor cast a blue light around the dimmed room.  It was a beautiful shade of blue and to him almost made Tony seem otherworldly.  Though considering when he’d been born almost everything about Tony seemed otherworldly. 

He closed the distance letting his hand rest on top of it carefully and was mindful of how important that circle of light was to Tony’s existence.  Tony was watching him and he leaned down to drop a soft kiss on his lips.  “Thanks for getting them to let us stay late; I loved the Met.”

“What kind of person would I be if I didn’t use my fame and wealth for such a good cause?” Tony grinned smugly.  “It might as well be worth something.  I believe Coulson would agree that making Captain America happy should be everyone’s first priority.”

“Get some sleep.  You need it so you’ll heal quicker.  Goodnight.” He turned towards the door before glancing back to see Tony watching him with a curious expression on his face.  The door shut behind him and he headed towards his floor.  That had reminded him of something that had gone too long.  He waited until he was safely in his room.

“JARVIS.  I think you know what I want to see.”

“The Arc Reactor.” It wasn’t a question.  “I will give you a shortened version.  As you should be aware Mr. Stark was held captive for three months in Afghanistan before creating the first prototype of the Iron Man so as to destroy the Stark Industries weapons and to escape.  Prior to this he was injured by a Stark Industries missile when the convoy he was riding in was attacked.  This left him with shrapnel in his chest that began to make its way towards his heart.  Were it to reach there it would shred his heart and kill him.  Dr. Yinsen operated on him in the cave Mr. Stark was held captive in.  This occurred while he was awake and without any medication.  The end result was that Dr. Yinsen utilized a magnet to keep the shrapnel from his heart and Mr. Stark was hooked to a car battery.  Eventually he created the first version of the Arc Reactor that gave him enough power to eventually escape, be found by Col. Rhodes and returned to the United States.  He then created a better, improved version of the Arc Reactor. 

“It was six months later that he received a push in the right direction to create a new element to replace the palladium core that he had discovered was killing him.  The Arc Reactor in his chest came from that moment.  Mr. Stark has several at any given time on the off chance that something happens to the one in his chest.  Without the reactor working he has no chance of survival.” JARVIS’ voice trailed off and Steve felt a weight in his chest.  What if the next time something happened they were too far away from the nearest replacement?  They needed a way to have a replacement nearby and safe, but Tony would never let SHIELD anywhere near it.  If he was unconscious he wanted one of them around at all times until he woke up.

Steve had read the file that SHIELD had on Tony Stark.  It was blunt.  There was a personality profile from prior to Tony fighting with the Avengers for the first time.  It was clearly inaccurate as it stated he was a narcissist.  Steve disagreed with that; Tony wouldn’t constantly throw himself in the way of harm or death if he was a narcissist.  Maybe to some degree, but Tony wasn’t completely.  At least to Steve he didn’t appear that way.  “Thank you JARVIS.  I needed to know.  There has to be some way to make sure we can have one closer by if something happens.”

The AI was silent at first, “You’re welcome, Captain.  Sir needs someone to look after him at times.  Though from my understanding of the information I have been both provided and given most people need someone to help look after them.”

A small smile flitted across his face as he walked towards his dresser and began going through the motions of preparing for bed.  Months ago he was heartbroken; a soldier out of time who had missed a date.  Now he was an Avenger who belonged to a truly unconventional family with someone he had fallen in love with.

*

Tony Stark stared at the ceiling and let his mind wander.  He’d thought after Pepper that maybe he wasn’t cut out for an actual relationship.  That it just wasn’t something meant for Tony Stark.  On some level he’d been ok with that, completely ready to accept that fact and move on with his life.  Then he’d stumbled on to Peter Parker or rather he’d tripped into the street and Peter had saved him.  Now he had an adopted son; someone who called him dad and who worried about him.  Who would ask him questions and who he could teach how to build an engine.  He’d come to realize that he loved Peter, that he truly thought of the other as a son and on some level he was glad Loki had turned him into a child.  It had given him something he hadn’t realized he’d wanted or needed.  It had never occurred to him that he would form an attachment that quickly.

He was Tony Stark.  Howard Stark’s son who was heir to Stark Industries; a genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist.  He was Iron Man and member of the Avengers.  In the long list of titles, some self-proclaimed and others given, the title of Dad had never factored in.  He’d seen a future of casual encounters with women and dodging them in the mornings after Pepper broke up with him.  Except he ended up not having time for even that.  His entire life had moved towards Iron Man, Avengers, spending time with Clint, Natasha, Thor, Bruce, Coulson, Steve, Peter, SHIELD members coming and going, working on his clean energy project for Stark Industries and other technological creations that he dreamed up.  There were occasional events he attended, but there was usually another Avenger present or Steve needed rescuing because he did not know how to deal with aggressive women who wanted a chance at Captain America.  Or kept trying to grab his ass.  Though the last one Tony had found great amusement in…the look on Steve’s face was priceless after all.

But now he was looking at pursuing a relationship with Steve Rogers.  His senses had been filled with the other man, his thoughts overwhelmed and it wasn’t normal.  He was turning into a sap…maybe someone had drugged his water.  “Hey, JARVIS?”

“Sir?”

“You don’t think I’m going to destroy a national icon, do you?  I mean I can’t break Captain America, right?  That isn’t a thing…it’s not possible?”

If an AI could sound exasperated then JARVIS was well past that stage, “I have the utmost faith that you will not _destroy_ Captain Rogers.  He appears to be quite resilient.”

“Still…I fuck up almost every person I try to have a relationship with.  Just look at Pepper…that should have been harder to ruin…”

“I would strongly suggest seeking the confidence of another human, Sir.  I have no experience with conflicting emotions or attractions.”

And the wrong idea popped into Tony’s head, he swung his feet over the side of the bed and headed towards his door.  Once in the elevator he pressed the correct button.

“Perhaps it would be in your best interest to wait until a more decent time of day?”

But Tony was striding down the hallway and knocking on the door.  There were curses, stumbling and finally the door was jerked open.  Clint stood in front of Tony Stark with ruffled hair and a pillow crease on his right cheek.  “What the fuck, Stark?  Do you ever sleep?!”

“I’m not going to break Steve, am I?”

Clint blinked at him, looked down the hallway past Tony before looking back at the man standing in front of him and tried to bite back a curse.  “Why are you asking me this?”

“Because look at what happened with Pepper!  And all those other women!” Tony scowled at the wall behind Clint, “Everyone knows I’m a fuck up, Barton.  I know you read that file Fury had on me saying that Iron Man was recommended, but not Tony Stark.  You’re the only one in this Tower in a somewhat stable, normal relationship.  And before you say it Thor is not even from Earth!”

A sigh escaped as Clint stepped out into the hall and shut the door behind him, “What brought this about?”

“I might be attracted to Steve, but this has never happened before.  I’ve only had flings with women in the past and then a somewhat stable relationship with Pepper.  Which I managed to fuck up.” Maybe taking all of those medications on a decided lack of sleep was not good for his brain-to-mouth filter.  But you never learned anything if you didn’t seek out the knowledge or get hands on experience.  Sometimes something blew up.

“Months of this dancing around each other.” It was muttered under his breath and Tony stared at him.

“You superassassins freak me the fuck out.  Have you found a way to tap into my mind?  Because let me tell you that is a place no one wants to go.  _No one_!”

Clint scrubbed a hand down his face, “This should involve alcohol.  Lots of alcohol.” It was said mournfully, “Just don’t do what you did with all of those women.  I’m pretty sure Steve isn’t a one nightstand kind of guy.  Did you make a move on him or something?”

“No.” it was petulant, “He made a move on me.”

A laugh escaped the archer in front of him, “Captain America made a move on Tony Stark?” he was grinning now.  “Oh to have been a fly on that wall.”  
  


“It was in a limo.”

“Backseat action, way to go Cap.” Clint leaned against the door and stared at Tony.  “And you didn’t see it coming?”

“Never in a million years.” Tony sounded vaguely embarrassed about his lack of perception.

“First guy to hit on you or something?  With all that intelligence I would think you could put two and two together and get that Steve was interested.”

“I’m stupid, Clint.  I’m a genius, but I must be stupid.”

“Maybe you’ve just never found a guy you were interested in…Supersoldier must be your type.” He smirked now and patted Tony on the shoulder.  “Sometimes being oblivious is the only problem.  Though if you break Captain America I think Phil might come after you.” He grinned.

“Taser.  Supernanny.  Drool.” Tony muttered, “I’m already injured…” a sigh escaped now.  “I don’t know where my mind has been lately…this is just sad.”

“Go to sleep.  You’ve suffered severe injuries.  You actually _need_ rest like the rest of us humans.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Tony waved him off and started off down the hall; he paused, “Thanks, Clint.”

He didn’t say if it was for the fact that Clint hadn’t really made fun of him or if it was due to helping him understand the situation.  It was probably for both.

“You’re welcome, Stark.  I expect a few enhancements to my bow when you’re back to 100%.” Clint stepped back inside the bedroom and moved to the bed.

“What did Stark want?” Coulson’s voice rang through the darkness.

“He wanted to know if he was going to break Captain America.  Apparently Steve made a move on him in the backseat of a limo.”

And sound Coulson made caused Clint to snicker, “Why me?  Why now?” it was sad, mournful even.  “Director Fury is not going to like this at all.  The paperwork will be astronomical.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just in case I completely screwed this whole chapter up I wanted to clarify this because I've been building up to the actual Steve/Tony relationship for several parts in this series.
> 
> Instead of going the more usual route that Tony has always been Bi (because I think with Tony he is just attracted to who he is attracted to...I can't really see gender mattering) I wanted to stick a little closer with what we saw of Tony in the movies with him being a playboy with women and then show that Steve has known it doesn't matter what gender the other is as long as he has feelings (just in his time that wasn't something you expressed openly). The Tony I'm writing (diverging from canon as this is an AU even in the movie-verse) has just never thought about a male partner, he just hasn't found one that actually caught his interest as he has always chosen women partners so why change something that works? Had he been aware he would have noticed the attraction to Steve sooner, but was instead focusing on everything else going on.
> 
> If there was something that was confusing for this chapter just let me know...I will clarify/fix it with better wording.


	4. Steve's New Responsibility

Clint stealthily prowled through the Avengers Tower slowly collecting select members of the Avengers Team for a meeting.  Once they were all gathered in the game room slouched across every available piece of furniture, in various states of undress, Clint raised his hand.  “Alright I have some news.”

“This better be good, Barton.  I was having an _amazing_ dream.” Natasha glared at him as she crossed her arms; those sharp eyes were locked on her partner.  Peter’s face turned slightly red as he ducked further into his chair trying to shrink.

Thor grinned over at him, “It is ok young Peter.”

A groan escaped the teenager, “I just want to sleep.  That’s all I want in this world right now is sleep.  Blissful, merciful sleep.”

“Steve made a move on Tony last night in the back of a limo!” Clint’s voice cut through all the chatter and distracted minds.

Bruce choked, “What?” he stared at Clint incredulously, “We’re talking about Steve Rogers…Captain America.  That Steve Rogers?”

“Yep.” Clint grinned unrepentant as Coulson shook his head at Clint’s absolute lack of tact or ability to keep someone else’s privacy.

“And?” Natasha raised an eyebrow, “You would not have that look on your face if there wasn’t something more.  Especially since I won the bet.”

“I’m not saying.” Clint looked away; as much as he wanted to razz Tony for showing up outside of his room basically asking for relationship advice he was very hesitant about mentioning that Steve was actually the first male to make a move on Tony Stark.  Ever.  But Tony’s concerns seemed to be more important to keep to himself.  It was only fair.

Peter stood up, “Well this was informative.  I’m going back to bed.” He turned and left the room slowly.

Thor glanced at the others; “So Steven is courting the Man of Iron?” he looked around, understanding the various differences between Midgard and Asgard had become quite important to him lately.  Especially the courtship rituals.

“I suppose you could say that.” Bruce drummed his fingers on the arm of his chair.  “All we know, thanks to Clint, is that Steve apparently made a move on Tony.  Not the outcome or reactions.”

Every eye turned to Clint who stared back blankly, “What?”

“Well?  Did that end poorly or was there a good result?”

Clint thought what the best course of action would be and what he could mention without having Stark gunning for him, “Stark didn’t reject him if that’s what you’re wondering.”

“But…” Natasha stared at him and Clint could practically _hear_ the death threats.  She’d spent more time around Tony Stark than they had so she _knew_ there was something more.

“Steve might be the first guy who has ever actually made a move on him…” Silence met the statement.

“The first?” Bruce questioned.

“I’m surprised.  The Man of Iron is a highly desirable companion.  I would believe he would have far more suitors of both sexes.”

“Don’t tell me you’re attracted to him too!” Clint laughed.

“I am quite happy with Lady Jane, but even I am able to recognize it.  On Asgard he would have many suitors.  There were many who were interested in him on our last visit.”

Natasha lost it and couldn’t help the laughter escaping her; a hand flew up to her mouth as she tried to quell the unrestrained response.  “Thanks, Thor.  That was perfect.”

He looked confused but nonetheless beamed back at her in pleasure, “You’re welcome, Natasha.” He’d long since learned not to refer to her as ‘Lady’ anything.  She didn’t seem to take it too well.

“Fury is going to believe that Tony Stark corrupted a national icon…but if anything it would be the opposite way around.” Bruce shook his head laughing.  “I never would have guessed that Steve would make a move, but I guess it makes sense in a weird way.”

*

Everything was going fine for the first few days.  No comments.  No jokes.  No hints of _anything_.  Tony was a man on edge because with Clint there was always another shoe to drop.  The man had been handed something on what was essentially a silver platter and he’d yet to act which meant something was coming.  Tony kept throwing suspicious glances in his direction.

Clint stared at him and looked down at his nightpants before raising an eyebrow, “Just because you were injured does not mean you’re getting out of grocery shopping this week, Stark.  Go shower and change.”

Tony scowled at him, “In case you failed to notice, Barton, I only have the use of ONE arm and even then I can’t lift any fucking thing!”

Steve glanced up and shook his head at Clint, “He’ll rip his stitches.  You know this, Clint.” A sigh escaped.

Clint stood up, “Obviously I had planned on going with him to help, but he isn’t getting out of it.  I still went after that mission that ended up with me unconscious for two days.  This will just count as mine for next week or Tony can just come with me next week to make it even.”

“Fine.” Tony wandered out of the kitchen muttering under his breath about evil archers and he just knew something was coming.  Fortunately for him it wasn’t directed in his direction.  Unfortunately for Steve, it was all focused on him.

“So I heard you made a move on Tony after visiting the Met.” Clint didn’t even bother segueing into it.  He just threw down all of his cards at once.

Steve choked on his orange juice, eyes watering as he looked up to meet Clint’s eyes which were flat.  There wasn’t a sign of teasing in them…not even a hint.  “What?”

“I wanted to let you know that if you do _anything_ to Tony I will make it my mission in life to destroy yours.  I’ve watched Tony prior to Natasha being stationed at Stark Industries to keep an eye on him.  He has never gone into a relationship with everything on the line like this one and he will self-destruct if this fails horribly.  So I wanted to warn you that if you break Tony we’re going to have a problem.” There was nothing of a joke in his eyes, no hint of amusement.  Clint’s voice was level, serious and everything about the archer was focused in on Steve in that moment.  His point would get across.

“You think I’m going to hurt Tony?” those blue eyes were confused, “Why would I ever do that, Clint?  I’ve been in love with him for months.” Steve leaned forward, “Have I ever given the impression that I would do something like that?”

Clint crossed his arms feeling slightly better at Steve’s reaction, but he’d seen Tony at some low points so he knew that despite that arrogant and cocky personality he showed off in public the other man had never really had an actual, stable relationship because the thing with Pepper was confused with her being his CEO.  “I’ve seen people destroy those they love without realizing it, Cap just as I have seen them destroy them knowingly.  I know you’re a great guy and that of all of us in the tower you are probably the most morally sound individual.  But I _know_ about Tony’s self-destructive tendencies and considering how he’d tried to act when the relationship with Pepper ended on ‘mutual’ grounds I can only hazard a guess on what would happen if this relationship went south.  Especially since he has never even had another guy make a pass at him before.”

A pained sigh, “Has it really been that bad in the past?” he was staring at Clint, “How do you know all of this?”

“SHIELD has been watching Tony Stark since he was fifteen.”

A shudder went through Steve Rogers as he looked at Clint, “Fifteen?”

“That is what Phil told me.  The official file on Tony is enormous.  The one you were given on the team is the base facts on him.  Fury’s interest in him was spiked once again after Tony was kidnapped and came back home with an Arc Reactor in his chest.  No one really knows that Tony has been basically under surveillance for so long.”

“Clint!  My nanny for the day!  Where the hell are you?” Tony swung around the door frame into the kitchen to stare at the two men who were staring at each other.  “Do I need to give you two a moment?” he snarked with a cocked eyebrow, a smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth.

“Nope.” Clint popped the ‘p’ and turned his attention to his other teammate, “I was just curious how long it took you to primp in front of the mirror.”

Tony rolled his eyes, “Kind of hard to take my clothes off and pull them back on with only one arm, Barton.  I’m just glad I gave JARVIS access to doors, lights and showers because that saves some time.  Let’s get this done with, where is the damn list?”

Clint wandered over towards the fridge and pulled off the small Starktech device.  “Here.” He walked out of the kitchen towards the elevator without a glance back at Steve.

A grin took over Tony’s face as he closed the distance between Steve and himself, “What’s with the face?” he looked at Steve who moved his eyes from the doorway towards Tony.  Steve pulled Tony closer and kissed him deeply, putting all of his feelings into the kiss and trying not to think about Clint’s words.  He wouldn’t hurt Tony, he couldn’t and he was glad that someone else had Tony’s back in such a way.  “Wow.  I’m trying to figure out how you do that.”

“Do what?”

“Keep kissing me like it’s the first time.” Tony stared at him and stepped back, “I better go; wouldn’t want Barton having a conniption would I?”

“Clint’s a good friend.”

An eyebrow rose up at the unexpected response, “Yeah.” Tony have him an incredulous look, “I’ll keep him.” It was said jokingly as Tony headed out of the kitchen leaving Steve behind.

“Where did all of that come from?” Steve muttered to himself before collecting all of the plates for the dishwasher.  He looked once more over at the doorway before heading in the direction of the gym.  A good workout sounded like an excellent idea.

*

“You’re getting your own damn cereal, Barton.  I’ll not have you raiding my stash!” Tony glared at him sideways as they went down the aisles.  “And this list is ridiculous!  Ten boxes of Poptarts?  Seriously?”

“You’ve gone grocery shopping for the Tower before, Stark.  I know you have.”

“It’s called ordering everything to have it delivered, duh.”

“You’ve been cheating this whole time!” Clint stared at him, “So not fair.”

 “Once.  I went once and dragged Happy with me.  Neither of us wanted a repeat.  It was better for all involved.”

“I call bullshit.  There is no way it was that traumatic.”

A raised eyebrow was the only response he received as Tony began to knock boxes of Poptarts into the cart before they began moving toward the next item.  Everything was going fine.  They had gotten everything except all of the refrigerator and freezer items.  Happy had been more than happy, Tony snickered at that, to pack everything into the car.  “Eggs…we need a fuckton of eggs.” Clint muttered to himself.   
  


“You’re an egg.” A chuckle escaped Tony’s mouth when the three year old next to him started laughing at Clint who was staring at Tony with his eye twitching.

“An egg.” The little boy giggled and Tony grinned as the mother of the little boy began to push the cart away from them.

“Oh really?” there was something in that voice that should have sent warning bells of in Tony Stark’s head, but he’d been in the store for hours.  He turned around and took an egg to the chest.  Staring down he watched as the yolk made its descent towards the ground leaving a trail behind.

“No fucking way, Barton!” he reached over pulling open one of the containers before throwing it at Clint who dodged, but Tony was prepared as he began throwing them as best as he could with one arm and stitches.  Clint was laughing until one hit his head and Tony choked on his own laugh as his eyes widened in slight horror.  “Oh my God!  I was not aiming—” an egg hit him right where the Arc Reactor was and exploded getting all over his face.  “Fuck.”

Thus began the Battle of the Grocery Store.  There were many casualties. 

*

Steve watched as the punching bag exploded and sent sand flying everywhere.  He’d yet to try out the bag Tony had made for him as he didn’t want to destroy something that the other man had worked so hard on.

“Hey Steve.” Natasha was walking across the gym with an intent expression.

He grinned, “Hello Natasha.” Steve tried not to focus on the huge mess he’d just made.  “Thought you were at SHIELD today.”

“I was, but I wanted to talk with you before the boys got back from shopping.”

Now dread was filling Steve, she had wanted to corner him when there were no witnesses, “Oh.” It was said faintly.  What was with the two assassins and Tony Stark?

“Clint told me about an interesting conversation he had with Tony at four in the morning.”

Steve’s eyebrows raised, “What?  When was this?” why on Earth was Tony up that early in the morning?  He’d though the other was actually trying to sleep better so he’d have a better chance of recovery.  Maybe JARVIS could figure out a way to lock Tony in his bedroom so he’d actually sleep.  No…that probably wasn’t safe.

“That day Director Fury came over and left in a rage.  I’m sure Clint or someone else has already spoken to you, but I wanted to say something myself.  While it may not appear as though I’m very fond of Tony Stark I have spent a lot of time observing him, studying him, interacting with him and trying to keep him alive.  Unfortunately I did not expect to actually form any sort of attachment to him, but nonetheless it happened.  Because of all of the things I have just mentioned I wanted to let you know if you do anything to Tony had damages him in _any way_ there will be no place in _any_ dimension that you will be able to hide from me.” She smiled at him sweetly before patting his face, “But I know there is nothing to worry about because you’re a good guy and you love him, right?”

Steve nodded dumbly still staring in shock at the tiny redhead in front of him.  He knew her words to be completely true.  “Nothing.” He murmured, surprised at the reactions to him trying to start a relationship.  It was weird, but nice to know others cared about Tony as well.

“On another note I wanted to thank you for helping me to win my bet.” She flashed an entirely too pleased grin, “I knew you two wouldn’t let me down.”

“You bet on us?” he was going to focus on that because it was safer.

“Most of us bet on you.  I won.” She turned and headed towards the door casually before throwing over her shoulder, “Use the bag Tony built you!” the door shut behind her.

“JARVIS?”

“Yes, Captain?”

“Did that just happen?”  
  


“Being threatened by Agent Romanov?  Yes, that happened.”

“Just checking.”

“I will echo her sentiment.  Though Sir exasperates me I do not want any harm to come to him.  Please ensure that it stays that way when it comes to your relationship.” Steve sat down on the ground in the sand.

“Wow.”

*

Instead of calling the police the manager called the Stark Industries CEO.  And said CEO was _not_ happy to be called about Tony Stark having a food fight in a grocery store.  No she really was not.  Pepper Potts found Tony Stark hiding behind a shelf with two eggs in his hand; he was covered in egg, cereal, flour and what appeared to be rice.  At least she hoped it was.

“What.  Are.  You. DOING?” her voice boomed and caused a strangled yell to escape Tony’s mouth as he spun around almost losing his footing.

“Pepper?” he gulped because the look on her face did not bode well for him.  “What brings you to…here?” Tony tried for charming because Pepper was in scary mode.  It failed horribly.

“You are still recovering from severe injuries!  And you’re in a grocery store Tony!  What were you thinking?”

Wildly Tony flung his good arm out to point in Clint’s basic direction accidently letting go of the eggs which hit a wall.  “Oops.  Clint started it!  I was merely defending myself.” He fought back a wince because that had hurt…badly.  A stitch or two might have been pulled, but he wouldn’t say a word.

“You were not near this bad as a child Tony!  Honestly who has a food fight in a grocery store?  I’ve already called someone to come clean this up and have written out a check for the manager to cover any possible damage.  Have you gotten everything you needed before this started?” her eye was not twitching, nope, Tony would not acknowledge that.  “CLINT!” her voice reverberated down the aisle.  The archer slowly slunk around the corner holding onto an open box of rice with a slightly sheepish expression.

“Hello Pepper.”

“It won’t work.” Tony muttered under his breath, but stopped when those eyes snapped back to him.

“Don’t ‘Hello Pepper’ me!  Did you throw the first thing?” she demanded tapping her foot.

“Maybe?”

“That would be a yes.” Tony piped up before shrinking slightly under her glare.  “I’m injured.” It was said pitifully as he tried to give her puppy dog eyes.  Pepper sighed.

“You’re so lucky you have me, Tony.” She muttered before looking around once more and spotting a little child watching them from around a corner.  “Just great.  The corruption of America’s Youth.”

The little boy who ventured out was clutching an Iron Man plushie in one hand and staring at the carnage in slight awe.  He made his way towards Tony who was grinning slightly now that Pepper’s ire had dissipated, somewhat.  “Are you really Iron Man?” he asked carefully staring at the adults in front of him.

Clint pouted.  “No one recognizes me.” He muttered.

“Well if you had a big bright flashy gold and red suit it would be pretty hard to miss you.” Pepper shook her head as Tony lifted his chin.

“Those colors are amazing.  You’re just jealous.  Does Pepper want her own suit?” he grinned and waggled his eyebrows.  “Then you could come to the rescue of poor billionaires everywhere!  We could call you…Rescue!”

Pepper’s eyebrow twitched as she stared at him, “And in what universe would that happen?  Honestly, Tony.  I worry about you.”

Tony just flashed a grin before carefully squatting down to the kid’s height.  “Yeah.  I’m Iron Man.” He smiled at the kid not even acknowledging the food covering him from head to toe.  “What do you have there?”

The boy looked at his plushie and held it up for examination, “My Iron Man toy.” A shy smile accompanied the words as Tony wiped his hand off on a clean part of his pants before looking the toy over.

“Excellent choice.  You should get a little Captain America toy so he won’t be lonely.” Clint smirked as Tony choked and Pepper’s head snapped in his direction as she stared at him in shock.

It didn’t appear as though the kid realized what was happening as he beamed.  “I have Cap as well.” His little chest puffed out in pride, “I have all of the Avengers.”

Pepper turned her attention from Clint to Tony and the little Avengers fan.  “I have all of them as well.” She enjoyed the widened eyes that comment got her.  “I started off with Iron Man and have slowly been collecting them ever since.”

The image of Tony’s face in that moment would be forever imprinted in Pepper’s mind and made the whole destruction of a grocery store worth it.

*

Bruce headed towards the movie room and dropped into one of the plush chairs with an exhausted sigh.  He closed his eyes and focused on his breathing before noticing that he wasn’t the only one in the room.  Steve Rogers was stretched out on the couch with a sketch pad and pencil.  “Be careful with Tony.” He said softly watching as Steve stared at him disbelievingly.  “I’ve seen the looks you’ve given him when you thought no one was looking, but he doesn’t let many people in as I’m sure you know.  Getting as close as you have given you the power to cause some serious damage.” Bruce leaned further back in the chair as he pulled his legs up.  “But then again isn’t that what you do when you love someone?  You give them the power to destroy you and trust that they won’t.”

Steve offered a slight grin, “Yeah.  That sounds about right.” He placed his pencil down before looking at the half finished sketch.  Carefully he turned the book so Bruce could see the drawing.  It was of Tony standing in front of Dummy; every line of his body screamed of a protective instinct and the expression on his face was solid determination.  The Tony in the picture looked like a force to be reckoned with and Bruce found a grin taking over his face despite the seriousness of the image.

“Is that from—”

“Yeah.  I could see him from the door when I was keying in.  Had I not known that at one point Tony was actually staring down the barrel of Director Fury’s gun I would have been better off.” Steve stared down at the picture; it didn’t matter that Tony’s arm was in a sling in the image because the power he was radiating more than compensated for it.

Bruce leaned closer staring at it.  “You’re a great artist.  It is a great likeness of Tony and Dummy.  The workshop is also perfect.  Why don’t you have Fury in the picture?”

“Because the focus is Tony.” A blush covered Steve’s cheeks, “It seems to be the main focus of most of my drawings over the past few months.”

Crinkles formed slightly at the corners of Bruce’s eyes as he grinned at Steve, “Good for you.  I hope you understand why I felt the need to say something.” He glanced away and tugged on the sleeve of his shirt.  “Tony was completely unafraid of the Hulk.  That is rarer than I can tell you.  On some level _everyone_ is afraid of him, but not Tony.  He didn’t even know me all that well and had completely accepted me.  Invited me to Stark Tower to visit the R &D Department.  He didn’t treat the Hulk like a disease or something horrible.” Bruce now looked at Steve, “He called the Hulk “my big green friend” who could take care of me when I was in trouble.  That the Other Guy saved my life.”

Steve stared at him and gazed down at the book in his hand, “Was this while I was looking around?”

“Yeah.  We were talking about learning control over the hands we have been dealt in life.  Tony said his Arc Reactor was a terrible privilege.”

“He would.” A sigh now, “I was very wrong with my initial assessment of Tony.  I’ll be kicking myself for that for a long time.”

“You both were at each other’s throats, but it was the scepter that was messing with everyone.”

The book was closed now and resting in Steve’s lap as his fingers traced over it idly, “I guess I was still so upset about waking up almost 70 years in the future and then to have someone linked to my time…poking at me like that didn’t help.  I shouldn’t have taken it out on Tony.  It would have been better if I’d not risen to the bait.”

“Hindsight is 20/20.” Bruce glanced around before looking over at Steve, “Have you seen _The Hunchback of Notre Dame_?” Steve had slowly been working his way through all of the Disney movies.  Tony had strictly _banned_ movies about time travel until further notice.  So far JARVIS had been the main one enforcing the ban.  Bruce could still remember the rant that had lasted over thirty minutes about why no one could even _mention_ time travel around the supersoldier.  _We don’t want him getting any ideas, do we?_   That had been Tony’s main focus.  The other Avengers, especially Coulson, had agreed that it would probably be for the best.  Coulson had further explained that whoever mentioned those words around Captain America would be doing every single mission status report for Fury until the end of time.  The two words together had become a taboo in the Tower or anywhere that Steve Rogers was near.

“No.”

“Alright, JARVIS?  Can you play the movie?”

*

Tony Stark had gotten the name of the little Iron Man fan and promised that when he was better he’d make a special trip to the little boy’s school with Captain America.  Possibly another Avenger or two depending on their schedules.  The child, Tom, had grinned widely before scurrying off to his mother who had been staring at them in stunned surprise.

“What else did you two still need to get on the list?”

Tony wordlessly handed over the Starktech that displayed the remaining items.  “We have everything else.” Clint piped up as he moved closer to Tony after sitting down his ‘weapons’.

“I’ll take care of it.  You two go home, shower and change.  If you still have medicine to take make sure you’re still taking it.” Pepper shook her head as Clint tried to give a kicked puppy look, but it didn’t faze her.  She worked for and with Tony Stark.

“I’m sorry, Pepper.” Tony actually sounded repentant.  Her eyes softened as she looked at him and crossed the space between them.

“You’re still healing, Tony.  What if you’d pulled your stitches or slipped and caused further damage?  Do you have any idea how I felt when I got the call that your Arc Reactor had gone out during that last fight and had Thor not been present you wouldn’t have gotten the replacement in time?  I would have been on the first plane back to New York had that meeting not been so important and if Phil hadn’t personally called me to let me know your status.  That you were fine, essentially.” She reached up and carefully removed a bit of eggshell from his hair.  The fondness she couldn’t help shone in her eyes; “Is there something you want to tell me?” the two of them were slowly moving outside towards the waiting vehicle.  Happy had already prepared for the mess that his boss and his fellow Avenger had made of themselves.

Tony lit up, “I think I might be in a relationship with Steve.”

Pepper grinned, “You think?  Tony Stark doesn’t know?”

“Well so far it has mostly been him kissing me and I want to see if it goes somewhere.  It’s only been a few days.” Tony’s free hand came up and tapped on his Arc Reactor absent-mindedly.  “I’m worried I’m going to fuck this up too, Pepper.  I couldn’t even make a relationship with you work and one would think there was almost nothing I could do to scare you off.  I’ve never had a relationship with a guy…I’m going to ruin this and then all of them will leave me.  They would pick him because who wouldn’t choose Steve Rogers over Tony Stark?”

“I wouldn’t.”

Tony cocked an eyebrow at her, “Honestly?”

“Honestly.” Pepper wasn’t prepared for the messy egg covered arm to wrap around her because Tony Stark had never been overly big on affection of this kind; especially in public.  Usually hugs or an arm around someone in public was for pictures or journalists.

“Thank you.” And it was moments like this that Pepper knew sticking with Tony Stark had been one of the best choices she’d made.  If only because she knew the true Tony Stark and that Tony had seen the nervous young woman who had been looking for a part time job while in school; he’d kept her on because she’d smarted off to him without a thought.  Eventually he’d made her CEO of his company.  He was pretty much one of the only people she had in the world.

*

“Steven!  I hear you may need advice on courting the Man of Iron.” Thor beamed wildly at Steve who was lying on the couch staring up at him in mounting horror.

“NO!” it ripped its way from his lips before he’d even registered what was happening, “I mean…no thank you.  I think I have a handle on it.”

“Are you sure?” Thor was not pouting.

Steve stared at him closely; Thor was totally pouting.  “If I ever need any advice I’ll be sure to ask, Thor.  Thank you.” And the pout was gone once more replaced by a wide smile.

“That is an honor, Steven!” Thor was quickly moving around the couch to find his own spot in a chair, “What are we viewing?”

“We’ll have to start over as you’ve already missed fifteen minutes.” Bruce stood up, “Anyone want anything before it starts over?”

*

“You threatened Captain America?” Pepper asked as she stared at Natasha who was lounging across from her in one of the sitting rooms she had for her floor.  “For Tony?”

The spy shrugged, “I’m well aware that between the two of them Tony is more broken.  I know that Steve wouldn’t hurt him, but I felt the need to impress upon him the importance of that.”

A slight grin took over Pepper’s face, “Serves Captain America right.  He came into my office and was questioning me about the end of my relationship with Tony.  I could understand where he was coming from, but still it’s nice to see Steve getting one of those visits himself.”

The look on Natasha’s face was almost predatory, “I’m quite sure I have not been the only one to pay the good Captain a visit.  We thought it might be best to pick a day Tony was out of the Tower.” She leaned back in her chair casually, “An outsider would think that Tony would be the one receiving the threats, but everyone always seems to blame Tony.  I’ve watched him for months when it was my job, I’ve reviewed everything I could find about him and now I’ve worked with him as part of a team.  We live in the same building and I have observed his reactions to dissolutions of relationships.  Tony will take all of the blame regardless and expects to be left in the end.  If he pursues this relationship with Steve he won’t be the one ending it.  It doesn’t seem to be in his character to let something like that go.”

Pepper nodded, “I think he would have probably kept trying to fix ours had we not come to the same conclusion at the same time.  That it wasn’t working.  We weren’t right for each other.  And we were drifting apart…”

“No.  You weren’t a good fit, but you’re a great friend for him.  I could see that as plain as day while I worked here.” Natasha smiled softly, “He’d be lost without you.”

“He wouldn’t know his Social Security number that’s for sure.”

*

“JARVIS I don’t think I can remember a bath that felt this good before in my entire life.” Tony had already stepped out of the shower from washing the egg and other debris off before deciding that soaking was the only answer to a food fight.

“Might I advise you to slow down, Sir?”

“I know…” Tony sank slightly into the water staring at the ‘cast’ submerged in the water.  He’d had to cover it so it wouldn’t get ‘wet’.  A snort escaped.  The damn thing was horribly inconvenient.  He had to resist the temptation to try breaking the thing so he could pry it off.  Tony raised his arm slightly.

“Sir.  Might I suggest not removing your cast?”

Tony scowled before sinking into the water while muttering under his breath.  “But I want to.”

“Captain Rogers would not be happy.” It was a low blow, but it worked.

“Fine.  I’m starving.” Tony began to actually move about carefully so as to eventually join the others.

*

Phil sighed against the phone.  “You’re sure it was them?” the affirmative on the other end of the line only caused him to close his eyes briefly.  “Alright.  Thank you.” He hung up before staring at Clint who was scrubbing a towel through his wet hair with another towel hanging low on his hips.  The archer was grinning at him in his usual way that said he knew Phil was aware of the chaos he’d caused.

“Hey Phil.  How was your day?” it was said innocently enough, but Clint’s intelligent eyes would give him away to a junior agent.

“I mentioned something about you helping Stark with grocery shopping today.  Never was it mentioned that you should _throw eggs at him_.” not once did that expression change.  Clint was waiting for an eye to twitch; Phil shook his head and headed out of the door.

*

Pepper stopped in the movie room to see several Avengers watching what appeared to be a Disney movie, but the one she wanted was right there on the couch.  Leaning down carefully she whispered into Steve’s ear, “You better protect him.  I’ve helped to keep him alive for a decade and if you swoop in to screw that up no one will like the consequences.” She stood carefully and gave a slight wave before heading out the door.

“All I did was kiss him!” Steve protested, “Honestly everyone is acting like I’m stealing Tony’s virtue!” he sounded disbelieving.

“And what a spectacular kiss it was!  Alas…Steve has yet to steal anything, but kisses from me.” Tony flashed a bright grin as he sat down on the couch with a huge sandwich.  Thor eyed it from his spot on a nearby chair.  “Mine.” His eyes narrowed as he took a huge bite and moaned around it.  “Yum.”

“That is cruel, Tony.” Thor sighed mournfully.

Now there was a smug expression on Tony’s face as he swallowed before carefully bringing the sandwich backup to his mouth not breaking eye contact with Thor as he took another bite.  “So good.”

“No one wants to see your food Stark!  Close your mouth.” Natasha bopped him on the head as she moved to drop into the open spot next to Bruce who was still in the biggest chair in the room.  “Scoot Banner…you’ve taken my favorite spot.” Her legs ended up over his lap causing him to stare at her in surprise.

A figure moved into the room and blocked the TV.  All eyes turned to the man standing before them, “Captain.  You have now been officially assigned Stark duty.  He is _all_ yours; your responsibility.  Try to keep him intact as he is actually a functioning member of the Avengers.  That also means that the mess he made at the grocery store…that’s yours.  I’ve already got my own to deal with.”

Now all eyes were turned on Tony who was the picture of innocence.  Tony held the sandwich closer to him and hunched his shoulders slightly or as much as he could with his injuries.  “What?”

“Tony.” So much was put into that one word and it earned a defensive sound from the genius.

“No.  It was Clint’s fault!  He threw the first egg I was merely retaliating and then it got out of hand…” Tony’s Starkphone signaled an incoming text from Pepper.  He glanced down to read the message: _Take good care of Steve.  I know he means a lot to you so make sure he knows that.-P_

“Oh Tony…you threw eggs in a grocery store?” Steve sounded slightly disappointed, but not completely surprised.

“And flour.  Oh and rice!” Clint chimed from behind the couch.  “Lots of rice!”

 


	5. Tony Acquires Freedom

Tony was carefully designing a new bow for Clint while Natasha warmed up in the practice range.  Thor had been more than happy to move a couple work stations into the gym and shooting range rooms for Tony as it had been strongly suggested by his CEO that he take a break from the workshop.  Tony was only listening because of the whole grocery store incident.  That and Steve had been present when he’d agreed to Pepper’s demands.  It wouldn’t do to get that disappointed look that Steve sometimes got when Tony was endangering himself or ignoring others.  Pepper had also been very upset about him standing in front of Fury’s gun for Dummy.  He was still trying to figure out how she’d found out about that one.  Tony suspected a spy in the Avengers.

He idly watched as Natasha moved on to some throwing stars.  These were the moments that he was glad she liked him for some strange reason.  Natasha could be scary.  Tony enjoyed watching the other SHIELD agents squirm when she was around.  They never seemed to know how to act.  He used to be wary of her after the whole being stabbed in the neck thing and her basically lying to him, but he’d become oddly attached to her since he’d convinced her to live in Avengers’ Tower.  She was also one of his favorites to have test new weapons/items for the Avengers.  Thor and Steve were his favorites to test out new technology; it always gave him an idea of how durable they were.  “So what time did you manage to get Peter to agree to come in here willingly?”

She glanced over at him with a smirk, “8am.”

“Impressed.  Very impressed.” Tony spun the hologram checking it over and having JARVIS save the bow design.  “What exactly are you having him meet you in here for?” he needed to know because Peter was a teenager and Tony didn’t want him to get hurt.  He trusted Natasha not to maim the teen, but it never hurt to be cautious.  Tony would not be one of those parents who were neglectful of their child.  That didn’t sit well with him.

“Peter needs to learn how to handle weapons.  He lives in a Tower full of Avengers and there is always the likelihood that something could happen.” Natasha spun around throwing a dagger into the head of her dummy.  “Once you get back to 100% your ass is going to be in here bright and early.  You can consider it physical therapy for being so inactive due to your injuries.” The amusement was clear as day in her voice.

Tony stuck his tongue out at Natasha, “Try to keep him in one piece.” He glanced at the hologram once more before turning his full attention of his fellow Avenger, “And if anyone harms a hair on my son’s head they’ll be dealing with me.” His brown eyes were hard and his jaw was clenched at the very thought that someone might harm someone close to him.  That was one thing he would not allow because there were so few who he truly cared about.  No one messed with what was his.

“I’ll be right there with you, Tony.” She grinned wickedly now and walked over toward him before dropping down in another chair.  “I’ll try my hardest to keep him safe as well.” Her hand reached out and moved the bow away from Tony so she could look at it.  “Excellent work.” She murmured looking over the features, the shape and the arrow ideas listed near it.  “Clint will sleep with this.  I can already see him holding on to the finished bow; looking at it lovingly and saying, ‘My precious’.  Possibly kissing it.”

A snort escaped Tony as he grinned back, “Too much Lord of the Rings in this Tower.  Clint needs to stop picking that movie.” They shared an amused look.  Clint was constantly supplying commentary whenever there was an archer of any kind in a movie.  Comments on shots, targets, bows, arrows and how he could have done better.  He had already explained to them that they would be watching Brave when it came out for movie night.  There would be no negotiation.  Steve and Thor were very interested in it as well.

*

Clint’s arms were wrapped around Phil Coulson in a parody of an octopus.  If octopuses were warm, firm and smelled good.  Phil stared down at the top of Clint’s head watching as it moved with the rise and fall of his chest.  He looked over his lover, taking in the lean lines of Clint’s body, the small scars healed from past missions and the muscles that spoke of strength.  Part of him wanted to wake his partner up and continue their activities from the previous night, but he knew that Clint could use a few more hours of sleep.  The archer had not been sleeping lately which had been evidenced by the slight dark circles under his eyes.

Carefully he moved himself from the bed before shifting his pillow close to Clint.  Sure enough it was wrapped up in those grasping arms and Clint had his face buried into it; a sigh escaped and he dropped right back off into sleep.  It was so rare to see him so relaxed and carefree because Clint was always on alert.  Years of missions, attacks and fighting for his life caused Clint to be watchful.  Phil moved his hand down and moved it carefully through Clint’s short hair watching as it moved with his fingers.  A soft smile graced his features because it was easier to just be Phil when it was only Clint and himself.  He moved away from the bed and began to go through his morning routine.  Today he had at least one thing that needed to be accomplished.  Requesting the location of one of his Avengers had him heading towards the gym.

Phil Coulson stared at the figure of Steve Rogers doing sit-ups in the middle of the gym.  The radio provided background noise so it wasn’t completely silent.  There were still moments when seeing Captain America right in front of him caused a small part of him to fanboy before he managed to push the need to freak out on Steve Rogers out of the way.  Fortunately now was not one of those times.  It had been a few days since the disaster that was Clint and Stark shopping which had given him plenty of time to hear about what the other Avengers had done to Steve.  Clint had quite gleefully supplied the details as he’d found it amusing to give Phil’s ‘hero’ a hard time even though he looked up to Steve as well.

“Captain?” he called out announcing his presence.  The other man stopped his workout and turned his head to look over at Phil.  It was hard to even tell that Steve had been working out in here for hours when the other man was not even close to winded or slowing down.  “A word?”

“You can call me Steve.” Steve Rogers flashed a charming smile and reached over to grab his towel to wipe his brow before turning his complete attention on Agent Phil Coulson.  “What can I do for you?”

“It has come to my attention that your teammates, minus Stark, felt the need to essentially corner you shortly after it was made known that you are in a relationship with Stark.” Phil wanted to sigh because really this should not be part of his job, but when it came to the Avengers there were a lot of things that he did that under normal circumstances would not be anywhere near his job description.  Making sure all the ‘kids were playing nice with each other’ had rapidly become one of his top priorities.  He tried not to think of the other mini jobs he’d rapidly acquired since he’d been officially assigned to them.

A blush stole over Steve’s face as his blue eyes darted away for a second before glancing back; they were begging Phil to not go there, but Phil Coulson was already committed.  “Yeah…”

“I felt compelled to explain to you the actual reasons for…that whole ordeal.” Phil watched as Steve continued to stare at him clearly waiting for an explanation for why his teammates were insane.  “Before that I want to say that I suggested to Director Fury that he should not bring Tony Stark into the Avengers Initiative.  I did not say no to Tony Stark and that Iron Man was recommended…I simply told the Director that he should find others for the Initiative.  That it might be in his best interest to not even mention the Initiative.”

“Why?  He hasn’t forgotten that.” Steve was giving him this confused puppy look that was killing Phil because causing Steve Rogers to look like that was probably a crime somewhere.  And if it wasn’t then it should be.

“Mostly because of you.” Phil looked away and sighed softly to himself.  He preferred to keep these things to himself, but Steve Rogers was the leader of the Avengers and sometimes knowing these things helped to make a better leader.  To further improve.  “Due to the fact that I am a member of SHIELD I was made aware of the circumstances behind your ‘death’.  You saw no other way and sacrificed yourself for everyone else.  When looking at the names of those who Director Fury planned to bring in to the Avengers Initiative I could agree on all of them except Stark.  Natasha had everything we were looking for and a need to make things right in her own way.  Or as she likes to point out; she has a lot of red in her ledger.  Clint is much the same and when you point him in the direction of a target he’ll take it out.  Bruce has the intelligence, research ability and guilt because of the destruction that the Hulk has caused.  But the Hulk is damn near indestructible which is the perfect thing to throw at opponents who are likewise indestructible.

“You were not in the picture at this point and later on we found Thor who had the raw power that we were looking for and essentially crashed into our laps.  But I noticed something different about Tony Stark.  Don’t get me wrong, Tony is a hero.  There is no question about that and he fits perfectly into the team.  Tony was in fact the third person that I became a handler for since working at SHIELD which makes him mine.  All of you are mine.  I was first given Clint and he brought along Natasha after a mission, but the responsibility for Stark came out of nowhere.  I’m not even sure why Director Fury gave him to me; I would have thought he might shove Stark off onto Agent Hill.” Phil shook his head and thought back to the beginning of his interactions with Tony before continuing, “However, during my observations, looking over his SHIELD files, speaking with Natasha and getting an idea of his character I could not in good conscience recommend him.  The others would do everything they could, put everything on the line and know when a mission is going south.  They will retreat to regroup or figure out another way.  But Stark would be unpredictable and if he believed it was the only way he would sacrifice himself without a thought.  He wouldn’t back off.  I’ve noticed that stubborn streak.”

Steve stared down at his lap seeing his whitened knuckles on the towel as he twisted it between his hands.  “You thought he would pull a Captain America and crash a plane into the ice.”

Phil scowled at himself, “Essentially, yes.  I read his whole file, I saw the videos of that little boy trying so hard to impress his father and no matter what he did Howard Stark never saw Tony for what he was…a true genius who had surpassed his father.  Tony is the future.  Then he was lost in the desert, he was recovered and Iron Man surfaced.  Stark tried to sacrifice himself to stop Stane and close to six months go by when he discovers that he is dying, but he keeps going and I knew what would happen if he was in the Avengers Initiative.  I believed that Tony Stark, Iron Man, would be better off as a lone hero than part of a team.” A sigh escaped now, “But when Loki showed up and Clint was compromised I knew we needed him.  I personally took the files and information to him at Stark Tower.  Then after I woke up I saw the video of the battle, heard the communications going over the comms and read the reports.  He flew a nuke into another dimension without a thought of coming back.  The others are so protective of him because of the nuke incident and because despite Stark not being brought into the Initiative with them he fought so hard to preserve his teammates without expecting to survive.  All of you fought as hard as you could and did everything in your powers to stop Loki.”

“That’s one of the reasons I’m so protective of him as well.  He doesn’t seem to think; Tony just reacts and throws himself into the line of fire.” The towel was shredded now, “Bruce explained some of his reasons though his seem to come from before the nuke incident.”

“From what I have gathered from Bruce Banner it would be acceptance more than sacrifice that would earn his respect and loyalty.  Clint has only had two people prior to Tony willing to sacrifice themselves for him.  Stark was unknowingly acquired by Clint as someone he’d go to any lengths for…I believe the same might be said of Natasha.  Once you have their loyalty they’ll have your back.”

Steve slowly stood leaving the shredded towel on the floor as he began pacing.  “SHIELD managed to bring together a team of people who shouldn’t be able to work together…shouldn’t be able to _live_ together.” He folded his arms over his chest and stopped before Phil Coulson with honestly filling his eyes, “If Tony ever succeeds in one of his stunts I don’t know that I would be able to continue…”

“I’m not sure if any of us would be able to.  How Stark managed to wriggle his way into everyone’s hearts is beyond me, but he succeeded.  I should have known when Director Fury came to me about Stark that my saying anything to have Iron Man rejected would become null later on.” A slightly amused grin crossed Phil’s face and caused Steve to blink in surprise.  “I’ve never seen someone work so hard to be unaffected and fail so miserably.”

This earned a genuine smile from Steve, “He does, but he’s more Tony around the Avengers.  Tony was the one who found out you were alive and stormed SHIELD HQ to get you.  He was fired up and furious.”

Phil shook his head and started towards the door with Steve trailing behind him, “I think Stark just loves to get under the Director’s skin.  I keep getting calls from him about Stark threatening him down in his workshop and about how Stark is corrupting Captain America.  How I need to do something about it.”

“No.  I’ve always had a bit of a rebellious streak before Tony was even born.  I usually try to rein it in around others.” They made it to the hallway and the obvious separate paths they would be taking.  Peter was walking by and stared at them suspiciously.  Steve found it suspicious that the teen was up this early in the morning on the floor with the gym and shooting range.

“Good to know.” Phil took a few steps away, “According to Clint I’m supposed to ‘support’ his threats.” A bemused expression crossed his face, “Try not to break Stark.  For some strange reason he seems to keep all of you together.  The two of you make a great team.”  Phil looked to the side, “I’ve unfortunately become attached to him; I’ll deny that with my dying breath should you say anything.  I’ll deny most of what I just said.”

Steve nodded with a grin as he turned to head the opposite way and had to force down a startled scream when Peter seemed to appear out of nowhere.  “I’m watching you.” Brown eyes narrowed at Steve as the teenager looked at him and Steve kind of wanted to grin.  Peter was quite protective of Tony and seeing the teenager standing before him in such a way made Steve want to hug him.  He suppressed the urge.  Tony had a nice family he’d acquired.  Steve watched as the teenager watched him while walking backwards towards the shooting range before disappearing into the door.  He could hear Natasha and Tony’s voices when the door had opened.  At least someone would be watching him while he was in there.

*

Steve did not get to take Tony on an ‘official date’ until the cast came off.  Tony Stark was very explicit in that regard especially when he knew that Steve Rogers would be more traditional.  There was no way he wanted to be prevented from doing anything because Steve was afraid he’d injure himself.  No way in hell.  He was beyond curious about how this whole relationship was going to go especially since Steve seemed to be taking the lead.  It was odd and new and slightly refreshing.  His other reason was that he was getting used to being in a relationship with another male.  So far it hadn’t been all that different and he couldn’t figure out why some people would be freaked out about this kind of relationship.  It seemed normal to him.

“I’M FREE!” it rang out through SHIELD Medical which Tony had freely walked into because that damn cast would be coming off.  And because Steve wouldn’t let him take a saw to it himself.  Or let Dummy.  Or Clint.  Or Natasha.  All of the saws disappeared over night after Tony had tried to make his case.  _You’ll only injure yourself further_ had been the only verbal response.  Tony dropped the remains of his cast onto the floor and stomped on them childishly before grinning widely.  “Now I need to seriously scrub my arm because EW.”

The SHIELD nurse was staring at Tony in mild horror, “You just stomped on it…” Tony wondered if she was new; he hadn’t seen her before in all the forced trips he’d made to Medical.

“Only because they wouldn’t let me bring in the blowtorch.” It was reasonable.  If he couldn’t have fire why not physically stomp that damn thing into the ground?  Tony Stark believed it was a compromise.  The cast hadn’t been turned to ashes…yet.  He eyed its remains and thought maybe he could destroy it in his workshop?

Steve carefully wrapped an arm around Tony and steered him towards the exit, “Thank you for removing his cast.” He grinned at her and shut the door behind them.  “Fire?  Really?”

“A repulsor glove seemed too extreme.” The dead seriousness in Tony’s voice worried Steve before the expression was wiped away with one of curiosity, “So where are you taking me today?” there was a slightly hopeful note in Tony’s voice because Steve had been so adamant that Tony _not_ know anything.

“Still not saying.”

A groan escaped as Tony tried to refrain from pouting because with Steve it was a hit or miss on getting what he wanted with that look.  Giving Fury visual evidence of him doing such a thing was not an option.  Tony’s eyes flicked up to where he knew a camera was before a slightly wicked look flashed across his features.  So far he’d been getting the hang of Steve treating him slightly differently.  And the kissing.  That was definitely amazing.  It was different from women and his past experiences, but he found he enjoyed it more with Steve.  Especially since Steve had not stopped treating him like he was the most precious thing on the planet; like Tony was the only person in the world other than Steve.  That was also quite amazing.  He’d always wondered what it felt like to have such attention because he’d seen it with so many others.  Caught a glimpse of it with Pepper.  Steve was always so focused on him.  Tony wondered if it might stop and if it did would he be able to handle losing it?

Carefully he reached up and grabbed the front of Steve’s shirt.  The other man stopped and froze staring down at Tony who jerked him forward into an unexpected kiss.  Several SHIELD agents stopped what they were doing to gape at the display in front of them and one young woman actually let out a sound of despair.  Tony was curious if it was because of Steve or him or if it might be both.  He didn’t really care and dragged Steve closer as he opened his mouth slightly deepening the kiss.  Steve who had frozen at the unexpected action was quite quick to respond and soon Tony had a supersoldier basically wrapped around him with those strong hands holding him close.  He broke the kiss with Steve, a grin on his features.  “When did you have chocolate?”

A choked sound came from behind him and Steve’s cheeks flushed slightly, “Before I got out of the car.”

“And you didn’t share…until just now.” Tony grinned widely before heading towards the exit with Steve meeting his pace.  “I take it that didn’t persuade you to tell me either, huh?”

“Nope.”

Up in his office Nick Fury stared at the screen in front of him before turning to Agent Maria Hill, “I just saw Stark kissing a national icon didn’t I?” he was trying not to scream because when he had Captain America defrosted he’d never imagined that Tony Stark would make a move on him.  Then again he should have.  “Why wasn’t I informed of this?”

Hill was still staring at the screen with a slight blush across her cheeks before seeming to snap out of it, “Maybe Stark was doing that to rile you up, Sir.” Though she seriously doubted that.  Steve Rogers was far to calm for that to have been anything but real.  She often wondered if Captain Rogers could even think about lying.  It seemed like the kind of thing that might signal an apocalypse.  She also didn’t believe her own words because Steve had dragged Tony far closer than Tony had dragged him.  The roaming hands were also a hint.  A big one.

*

Tony stared at Steve and then looked around at the place Steve had taken them to on his motorcycle.  “Six Flags?” he questioned with a small smile.  It wasn’t big, it wasn’t fancy and it wasn’t somewhere that your average person would take Tony Stark because they were usually trying so hard to impress him.  To get his attention, but it never really worked.  This was unexpected.  A good unexpected.

“Yeah.” Steve shifted slightly with a nervous smile, “I have many fond memories of amusement parks and I figured it might be nice to get out of New York.  New Jersey didn’t seem like a bad idea…”

A startled laugh escaped Tony and caught the attention of a view people nearby as he shook his head in amazement, “Did you know that trip to Coney Island was the first time I went on a rollercoaster?” he wasn’t sure about admitting that he could trace that day back to the first time he’d had that warm feeling in his chest.  That feeling of genuine affection and care for Steve Rogers.  He would save that for later if a chance appeared.  Tony hoped it would.

It went much the same as before only Tony caught himself staring more at Steve and instead of grabbing onto his wrist Steve was holding onto Tony’s hand.  They went on every thrill ride available.  But the look on Steve’s face when they went down that first steep drop was perfect and Tony caught himself laughing as the rollercoaster flew down the track.  He purchased every single picture after each ride that had one available.  Some of those expressions were impossible to pass up especially when Steve wasn’t actually _looking_ for the camera.

The day was perfect.  He’d gotten his cast removed, had an enjoyably chocolate kiss that probably gave Fury an aneurism and he’d been taken on a real date.  It was vaguely surreal.  “How do you even exist?” he found himself asking almost not realizing he’d questioned it out loud.

Steve stared at him in surprise before grinning.  “What do you mean?”

Tony waved a hand around, “Of all the places you could have chosen for a date you picked an amusement park in New Jersey.” Tony flashed him a grin, “And everything else.  My dad would occasionally get nostalgic and tell me stories about Steve Rogers.  How you were such a good and brave man; he’d never really seen one like you before.  I used to think he was exaggerating.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah…but he wasn’t.” Tony struggled with his next comment because he was Tony Stark and this was unfamiliar territory.  But he cared about Steve and wanted to see where this went.  A small corner of his mind was wondering why he’d never thought about other men before Steve kissed him, but figured it wouldn’t have been the same.  He knew if he wanted this to work, if he didn’t want to be a fuck up in another area of his life, that he would have to be honest with Steve Rogers.  That he would need to actually try to be a somewhat normal human being…or at least as close as he could.  But it made him feel a bit sappy and he’d always made fun of people like that.  Oh well…being a hypocrite in this category wouldn’t kill him.  Hopefully.  “I don’t think I’ve had this much fun before.  Ever.”

It was worth it a million times over to see that smile light up the other man’s face.  To see those blue eyes flashing with pleasure and happiness.  Tony wondered if he might be a little bit in love with Steve Rogers, but it was too early to tell.  He was sure.  Maybe.

The following kiss was full of feeling and happiness.  Tony found himself leaning more into it and enjoying the strong hands pulling him closer.  Idly he noted that a flash had gone off somewhere and he wondered if he could buy that picture because he was one hundred percent sure it was a picture of them.  Steve broke the kiss with a grin and was dragging him towards the next ride all the while practically bubbling over with happiness.  Tony wasn’t sure if he’d ever felt this level of satisfaction from making another person so happy.  It came close to showing up at events for children or children’s hospitals in the Iron Man suit.  Maybe bringing along Captain America next time might be a great idea.  He was already bringing him along to Tom’s school now that he was cleared by the doctor.

Steve continued to lead Tony around the park to various rides and attractions.  There were several rides that Tony ended up dragging Steve back to because they were his favorite.  And if the whoops they elicited from Steve made that warm feeling bloom in Tony’s chest…well he wasn’t going to say that out loud.  Yet.

*

It was dark when they finally arrived back at Avengers Tower and Tony tried not to choke on a laugh when he noted that every single person in the Tower had waited up for them.

Peter stared at him, “Do you have any idea what time it is?” Tony was hard pressed to decide if it was the look on the teenager’s face or the words he’d chosen to use that set them off.  It might have been a combination of the two.

Natasha started laughing first which set Bruce off and Clint was quick to follow.  Thor’s booming laughs almost covered up the surprised laugh that escaped Coulson.  Tony felt tears in his eyes because it was too funny.  He crossed over to his son and ruffled his hair.  “Waiting up for me?”

A sheepish expression took over Peter’s face, “Wanted to make sure everything went alright this morning and then JARVIS told me you were out of state…”

Tony reached into his pocket and pulled out a stack of pictures before handing them to Peter to glance at.  “Oh my God.” It was choked as Peter took in the expressions on the faces in the pictures before handing them back.  He was curious if he’d ever seen something so funny.  “That was great.”

“It was.” Tony nodded.  Had he looked back he would have seen the fond expression on Steve’s face and the absolute happiness that was being observed by the other Avengers.  Tony glanced at the clock.  “Who wants to watch a movie?”

The question started off a quick debate and argument over choices.  But the end result was that each Avenger was asleep in various positions in the movie room.  Only this time Tony and Steve were curled up together on the couch, legs tangled together, with Tony’s head laying right above Steve’s heart.  The beat put him to sleep only twenty minutes into the movie.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel the need to explain something. It took me forever to decide how I wanted to write that scene between Steve and Phil. I knew what I wanted to say, where I wanted to go, but it wasn't coming out right. I made it that Phil Coulson suggested to Fury that Tony be left out of the Avengers (he did NOT say yes to Iron Man...Fury did that because he is an ass most of the time) because Phil didn't want to be responsible for someone sacrificing themselves. It still bothers him that that is the reason for Captain America being lost for so long. So that is why I did that...all of the Avengers risk themselves, but Phil was focusing on Tony's self sacrificing ways because he noticed them even though Tony tries not to show that side of himself. He cares about all of them.
> 
> Oh yeah...kudos for those who spotted the comic book reference! Sometimes I can't help myself and love to slip something from the comic-verse into my story even though I'm writing from the movie-verse. Thanks for the feedback, reviews and comments! I enjoy each and every one of them.


	6. A Quest for 'Treasure'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There IS slash in this chapter. Nothing out right explicit though…the lead up will be pretty obvious if you want to skip down to the * which will be the end of it.

“Why are we doing this?” Tony demanded as Natasha dragged him down the streets of New York City.  “What kind of evil did I do?” he flashed a smile at someone staring at them before returning to his current companion.

Natasha stared at him clearly unimpressed, “Fresh air is good for you.  You’ve been down in your workshop for almost a week.  I’m quite sure only Steve and Peter have seen you recently.  Mostly because they keep going down there to make sure you’re alive.” She glanced to the side at one of the windows they were passing, “I just ask JARVIS if I should worry and then I’m good for the day.” A smirk followed the comment as Tony gave her a mock hurt look.

“Tasha, you wound me.  My heart bleeds; my soul weeps.  How can I ever go on?” his hand flew up to lay across his Arc Reactor which was essentially his heart anyway.

A slight grin caused her features to soften before she noted a child walking toward them, tugging his mother.  “Looks like you’ve got a little fan.”

Tony turned his head and beamed at the child who was now standing in front of them with a look of awe.  “Hello.” The whining and mocking sorrow was quickly wiped from his tone; Natasha could only marvel at how Tony Stark reacted towards children.  Truthfully when she’d read his initial file prior to observing him she’d figured he would be terrible with children and have an aversion to them.  It was the opposite.  Tony Stark _loved_ children and they loved him as well.

“You’re Iron Man.” The little boy wasn’t shy in the least before turning to look at Natasha, “And you’re BlackWidow, right?”

It always surprised her when someone actually recognized her and _wanted_ to interact with her.  She was used to looks of fear.  SHIELD agents still ran from her whenever they could.  One had cried when she’d glared at him.  She’d earned the reputation with good reason and felt no need to change it.  Natasha felt her features soften a little more as she crouched down closer to the boy’s level.  “Yes, I’m BlackWidow.  But I also go by Natasha.  Who are you?”

The mother appeared to be slightly embarrassed, but Natasha could see her checking Tony out.  It amused her especially when she thought of the interactions between Tony and Steve.  In that relationship it was clear who was leading and it wasn’t the billionaire playboy, but the morally sound soldier out of time.

“My name is James.” He grinned at her before looking over at Tony who had also gotten down to the boy’s level.  “I love the Avengers.” James was absolutely adorable and Natasha found she enjoyed interacting with these types of ‘fans’.

Tony flashed a bright grin, “Do you have a favorite?”

Now James was looking at his feet shyly before glancing up, “I like all of you…but I like the Hulk best.” And now Tony looked absolutely delighted.  Natasha found great amusement at how Tony was constantly advocating for Bruce/the Hulk.  It had been one of those things that had only further endeared Tony Stark to her.  But she wouldn’t let him know that.

“Would you like to meet him?  At least the Hulk when he is a normal guy like me?”

James’ eyes were wide with excitement, “Really?  He gets small like me?”

“Not quite as small as you, but close to Tony’s height.” Natasha amended, “His name is Bruce Banner.” Tony cocked his head to the side as he glanced sideways at Natasha with a sly grin after she’d said Bruce’s name.

“I can meet him?” the boy’s mother appeared quite shocked at her son’s request.

“James…” she trailed off when Tony turned his charming smile on her.  Natasha almost felt sorry for the other woman, but decided that at this point the other woman should be able to hide that kind of reaction.  The blush was beyond obvious.

“You can both stop by the Avengers’ Tower and your son can meet the others.  It won’t be any problem.” Tony turned on the charisma and it was obviously working.

“If you’re sure.  I wouldn’t want us to impose…”

“Nonsense.  And it does Bruce good to meet someone who isn’t afraid of him.” Tony was grinning and ruffled the boy’s hair.  “I’m sure he wouldn’t mind meeting the others as well.  You don’t have to worry…the big guy shouldn’t make an appearance.  Also Captain America’s shield is something all kids should get a chance to see.”

“Ok.” She smiled back and her son let out a whoop of excitement.  “Is there any time that would work best?”

Tony turned towards Natasha, “Tomorrow should be fine, right?  Nothing going on that I don’t remember?”

“Yes…it should be fine.”

“Excellent!” he proceeded to explain to the mother about parking, what times were best and asked for names so he could clear them through.  Tony watched as the little boy was vibrating with excitement, “I’ll see you tomorrow.  If you have anything you want someone to sign or pictures feel free.”

Natasha watched as Tony Stark just made that little boy’s world and then as James skipped off with his mother looking back over his shoulder frequently a smile wide on his face.  “I’m always amazed.” She murmured as they resumed their walk down the sidewalk.

Tony raised an eyebrow, “Of what?  My awesomeness?”

She shook her head, “You’re good with kids.”

“No I’m not.” He was quick to deny because for him that didn’t make sense.  Where would he have gotten the ability to be good with kids when he had no real example in his own life?

“You are, Stark.  Accept it.  Now you’re going to be taking me to lunch.  I’m thinking Italian.”

A pained sigh escaped, “I swear you all use me for food.”

“And here I thought we’d hidden that fact…pity.”

*

“What’s Ebay?” Thor asked looking over the back of the couch at Clint who was walking by the doorway.  Steve’s head snapped up at the question as he turned to regard Clint as well.

“Ebay?” and Clint saw an opportunity.  The question was if he was going to take it.  The answer was yes.  He really was.  “Ebay is where you compete with others for items you want.  They have all kinds of _treasures_ on Ebay that you can buy.  But you have to beat others in order to get them.”

Thor’s eyes were wide as he stared at the archer.  “You battle for treasures?” the interest was plain in his voice and Steve leaned forward with a furrowed eyebrow.

“How do you _compete_ for them?” now he was interested.  It wasn’t something he’d heard of before, but there were so many references he still didn’t get.  The other week it was some music Tony had playing in his workshop.  Apparently Tony had something for him later.  Steve was curious.

Clint strolled into the room and hopped over the couch.  “You bid.  Each item has a time limit and whoever manages to get in the last bid…the highest bid _wins_ the treasure.”

“Can you show me?” Thor questioned not looking away from Clint who was holding the attention of both men.

“Sure.” He grinned as he scooped up Steve’s Starkpad.  “Mind if I use this?”

“No.”

It didn’t take Clint long to bring up the page and start creating an account for Thor; though the god had to go get his ‘card’ and information that Tony had provided him with in order to fill out all the information.  “What should we look up?” he muttered to himself when everything was set up.  Information carefully written down so Thor could later access Ebay as Clint was going to feed his interest…there was far too much potential for entertainment.  “I know!” he typed in Captain America.

The screen was quickly filled with all things Captain America.  Vintage cards, comics, books, posters, action figures etc.  There were even several autographs up for sale.  If the day provided nothing else of note for Clint he would be able to live off the expression on Steve’s face for months.  Words couldn’t describe it.

“Captain!  I did not realize there were so many treasures of yours.” Thor grinned widely.  “Are there weapons?”

“Thor. Big guy.  _Of course there are weapons_.  Anything you can think of I’m sure we can find on Ebay.”

Thus began Clint teaching both Thor and Steve Rogers how to bid, buy, comment etc on Ebay.  He ended the lesson with the creation of an account for Steve.  Clint was very sure that Phil was going to kill him.  When he left the room Thor was browsing weapons and Steve was looking at various art related items.

He found Phil sitting at the island in the kitchen.  Reaching forward he pulled the other man close to steal a kiss grinning into it when he felt the mild surprise at the suddenness.  When he pulled away the tie was skewed and the typically pristine suit slightly wrinkled.

“What have you done?” Phil eyed him with suspicion as he fixed his tie and moved his hands carefully over the suit to smooth it out.

Clint dropped into the chair next to him and gave an innocent smile, “Why do I have to have done something?  Can’t I just make a move with no motive?”

Phil narrowed his eyes and gave Clint a sideways look, “In this case…no.”

A pout, “I haven’t destroyed anything.” It felt like an accomplishment.  Phil didn’t get a chance to say anything else as Peter wondered into the kitchen to make a beeline for the fridge.  He finally pulled back with arms full and stared at them.

“What?” it was defensive, “Don’t judge me!  Thor and Steve put it away as though food is going to be extinct any day now.”

“I said nothing.”

“You’re beginning to take after Stark.  That kind of defensiveness and paranoia makes me question your actions.” Phil turned his eyes on the teenager.  “Where have you been this morning?”

“My room…”

Clint smirked, “Sure you have.  You were in the shooting range!  I saw you head in there.”

“Natasha said I had to practice!” Peter scowled, “Tattle-tale.”

“YOU WILL NOT DEFEAT ME MORTAL!” came a booming voice from the direction of the movie room.

Clint bit his lip and turned his head slightly to hide the smile that was threatening to take over his face.  It was going to be interesting.

“How do I keep getting outbidded this quickly?” Steve’s voice followed and Peter turned to stare in the direction of the doorway in slight horror.

“What are they doing?” he asked as the items in his arms were deposited on the counter.  “What are they bidding on?  Who is Thor battling?  _Who did this_?” Peter demanded staring at Clint before pointing an accusing finger.  “It’s you!  I thought there was a meeting or something about you _not_ introducing them to new…anything!”

“YOU WILL NOT BEST THE MIGHTY THOR!”

Now Phil was staring at him and the beginnings of an eye twitch were on the horizon.  Clint just knew it.

“It’s only Ebay.” He muttered as another shout interrupted them; a few hours later and he realized that when it came to the Avengers it was never ‘only’ something.  Everything was a raging battle that needed to be fought and won.

Coulson stood in the doorway of the movie room staring at Thor and Steve.  This was all Clint’s fault.  All of it.  Steve Rogers was stretched out on the couch with his sketch pad and his Starkpad next to him.  It was set to alert him should someone outbid him as JARVIS had been more than happy to help both Steve and Thor in their new interest.  Thor was going through a huge sandwich and browsing Ebay for more treasures.  He too had his set to alert him should someone ‘challenge him’.  The remains of a Starkpad lay on the floor near him.  It had been one of the earlier versions Tony had given Thor when he’d first introduced the god to Midgard technology.  Peter had been more than happy to go get a new Starkpad for Thor who had been furious that some mortal was repeatedly beating him in his quest because that weapon was _his_.

“Come on Phil…Peter will keep them safe.” Clint grinned as he grabbed onto Phil’s tie and began dragging him towards the elevator.  “I can think of so many other activities we could be doing instead of playing babysitter.”

They made it to the elevator before the doors slipped shut and Clint was pushing Phil against the wall.  His lips were demanding and searching.  Hands were roaming and Phil’s suit was rapidly losing its pristine state.  “Phil…” it came out as a moan as the other began to respond to Clint’s advances.  Clint felt the teeth at his neck and allowed himself to be shoved against the opposite wall.  Steady hands were all over him and then the door was opening.  They fumbled down the hallway towards Clint’s room with Phil knocking the door shut behind them.  Sometimes it was good to just lose that steady control.  “Yessss.” It came out as a hiss and Clint was more than happy to let Phil take the lead.  His legs hit the back of the bed and as he fell onto it he made sure to drag his lover down with him.  A short laugh escaped as he rolled them as hands moved to pop open buttons.  His hands removed the tie before going back to undressing Phil.  At the same time Phil’s hands were moving about and instead of focusing on Clint’s shirt they moved towards the clasp on his pants.  Clint raised his hips to help because all he wanted was to feel every line of Phil’s body against his own.  Moving together.  He wanted every single one of his senses filled with Phil because how was it possible to need someone this much?  With others it had been slightly meaningless, but full of wandering hands.   With Natasha it had been frantic and wild; with Phil it was frantic, wild, passionate, needy, powerful and everything he _needed_.

Soon it was nothing but skin, roaming hands, warm lips and whispered words.  His breath hitched when there was nothing between them.  When they were finally connected on every intimate level imaginable.  “Fuck…Phil.” He dragged the other man down to his lips as they continued to move together.  “Love you.” He murmured against the other man’s lips.  “You better never leave me…”

“I doubt I could get rid of you that easily.” Phil smirked at him before Clint was rolling them across the sheets once more.  There were hands everywhere, a constant fight for dominance and wandering lips.  The thrill Clint experienced every time was something he wouldn’t trade.

“Just wait.” Clint panted as he met Phil in a steady rhythm.  “Before the day is through I’m planning on making you scream.” He flashed a cocky grin.  “I’m thinking we haven’t christened your library yet…that desk always looks so lonely.”

Phil moved them once more, “It’s all just words…I prefer action.”

*

“See…fresh air is good for you!” Natasha smugly grinned at Tony who was once more muttering under his breath.  She’d lost track of how many pictures had been taken of them and the number of questions about his relationship with Steve Rogers Tony had been asked.

“One more question…I swear.” It was said darkly as Tony actually kicked his foot at what appeared to be a rock.  “It is old news.  Honestly those pictures came out over a month ago.  A MONTH.”

“It’s big news when Tony Stark is suddenly dating Captain America.  This shouldn’t surprise you since you’re always all over the news.”

Tony scowled, “It’s only dates and making out.  Honestly.”

Her eyes went soft again and Tony was wondering how they’d transitioned from her stabbing him in the neck with a needle to ribbing each other while walking down the street.  Nothing in his life was ever cut and dry.  _Nothing_.

“They have never seen you with another guy before.  It’s always big news when something new happens.  People love guessing.”

“So?”

“Besides Clint was telling me the two of you have a Facebook page.”

“What?!” it appeared as though she now had his full attention.

“A Facebook page.  You have fans of your relationship with Steve.” Where was a camera when she needed one?  That look on Tony’s face was priceless.  “A lot of people fully support your relationship.  Apparently they think Iron Man and Captain America make a good couple.”

“I’ll kill you…why haven’t I been informed about this?  Who makes a Facebook page about that?”

She opened her mouth to respond before stopping.  Carefully Natasha turned her head towards the soft noise that had caught her attention.  When Tony went to open his mouth her hand came up to silence him before she began moving away, careful to be quiet.  “Shhh.”

And then she was bending down and picking something up.  Something small.  Something furry.  Something alive.  Tony cautiously moved towards her and then he could hear it.  A soft mewing.

“He is adorable.” She murmured stroking the kitten carefully as it shivered in her hands.  “Hello there.” She smiled at the kitten who stared at her with bright blue eyes on a small little face.  “Are you lost?”

Tony Stark stared at Natasha Romanov—BlackWidow, superspy, the triple imposter, SHIELD agent and all around badass scary ninja—cuddling a kitten.  His world had just been turned upside down.

And then she was turning those normally lethal eyes on him and they were clearly saying one thing.  _I’m keeping the kitten_.

“Tasha—”

“I want him.” It was simple.  There was no request and he could see that she wasn’t giving the fluff ball up.

“Fuck.” He muttered, “Do you have any idea what kind of things it will need?  Food, toys, litter box—can I just say EW—a bed, shots, checkups…there is an entire list!  What if there are allergies to him?  What then?  And the litter boxes are not good…they involve scooping and don’t get me started on those ‘littermaids’…seriously?  Those things are horrible.  A toddler could make a better product!”

But she wasn’t listening and was once more resuming the walk towards Avengers’ Tower with Tony following.  Damn.  Now he needed animal…things.  And Natasha was so engrossed in the little fur ball.  Talking to him.  Cuddling him.  Petting him.  And promising many things.  Pepper would know what to do.  She would know about kitten things.  After all she’d had kittens before.  Tony pulled his phone out.

“Pepper?  I need kitten…stuff.” He didn’t even lead into the request.  There was no point.  Who would believe this without proof?  Tony didn’t and he was still watching it happening in front of him.

“Why?”

“There may or may not be a kitten living in Avengers’ Tower now…”

“You can’t even take care of yourself and now you have a pet?”

“It’s not mine…” there was a noticeable whine in his voice.  “Natasha found it…”

“I’ll have stuff sent over.  You have a meeting Saturday at noon.  Be there.” The line went dead.

“Fuck me.”

The odd procession continued as they headed back towards Avengers’ Tower.  Natasha stroking the kitten and speaking to it softly as Tony followed behind tapping at his Starkpad.  Occasionally he’d be stopped for a picture or an autograph; sometimes both. 

*

Natasha dropped down onto the chair Bruce typically claimed with her new little friend.  “What are they doing?” she asked as Thor began threatening his Starkpad and Steve was tapping on his with an intent expression.

“They’re bidding on Ebay.” Peter promptly responded from his spot in front of the TV.  His character let an arrow fly and a big number 10 filled the screen.  “Yes.” He smirked at the screen before aiming once more.

“Ebay?’ her hands stroked down the kitten’s back as it began to purr louder.  Tony came into the room holding onto a cup of coffee having already changed into something more comfortable than his previous outfit.

“I AM VICTORIOUS!  YOU HAVE LOST MORTAL!” Thor was beaming at the screen as Steve glanced over at him with a frown.

“How did you already win?”

“Probably chose an auction that was close to closing.” Peter responded without even looking up from his game.  “How much time does yours say?”

Steve glanced at the screen, “17 hours.”

“Then you’re going to want to have the highest bid in 17 hours.  I suggest putting in the highest amount you’re willing to spend and it will bid for you each time someone tries to outbid you.  Then if someone happens to reach that limit you’ll be informed.”

“Oh.” Steve frowned slightly before closing his eyes and trying to imagine what would be the highest amount he’d be willing to pay at this point.  It still surprised him when it came to prices and money when compared to his original time.  Blue eyes opened and he carefully began to input his bid.  Tony took a seat next to him before placing his cup down on the coffee table.

Brown eyes flicked over to the remains of a Starkpad before flashing back to Steve, “Who broke my tech?”

“Thor.”

“Some mortal was trying to best me on my quest.” Came the response as Thor walked over towards Peter to have the teenager show him how to complete his ‘quest’.

“So you had to kill my tech?  Honestly big guy…well at least if it survives you I know it’s close to unbreakable.” Tony leaned back against Steve’s legs as the other man moved around on the couch to give him more room.  Carefully he sat up and pulled his legs closer to his body as Tony moved back into the cushions. 

Steve sat his Starkpad down cautiously before dragging Tony closer to him.  He nuzzled into the smaller man’s neck before placing a kiss there.  The muscles in Tony’s body relaxed as he leaned further into Steve’s body enjoying the warmth and attention he was getting.  Natasha gave him a knowing look from her chair as Bruce slowly walked into the room.  He’d clearly been missing sleep lately and seemed to be on autopilot as he headed towards his chair.  A slight frown took over his features as he noted the body in his favorite spot before with a shrug he moved Natasha over in order to drop down into the huge chair.  The kitten’s head popped up slightly as he looked over at the new person before carefully climbing out of Natasha’s arms to paw at Bruce.

“Who is this?” his voice was soft and slightly rough as he carefully moved his hand towards the kitten that began sniffing him.  He was soon rubbing against Bruce’s hand and purring happily.

“Tasha’s new friend.” Tony piped up from the couch even as Steve began kissing down his neck, moving Tony closer to him.

“I haven’t named him yet.  I need to get an idea of his personality.” Her hand moved over to pat the kitten’s head as it leaned closer to Bruce.

Peter glanced over at Natasha and Bruce seeing the kitten.  “We have a pet now?” he was moving over towards them without realizing it.  “And it’s a he?”

“Yes.”

Hours passed and with them the kitten had fallen asleep on Bruce’s chest.  Natasha’s head was resting on his shoulder with her body curled up next to his.  Her chest rose and fell steadily.  Peter was sprawled out on the floor near them with his eyes barely open as the TV played in the background.  Thor had long since left the Tower to visit Jane and the occupants on the couch had not really moved much.

Peter didn’t even notice when Steve dragged Tony up from the couch and was towing him towards the elevator.  Steve’s hands were careful as he pulled Tony closer to him feeling Tony fit against him.  The Arc Reactor glowed softly under Tony’s shirt and he could feel it pressed against his chest.

“Oh.” Tony muttered before pulling away, “I had something I’ve been meaning to give you.” His hands carefully felt around for the correct pocket as he pulled them out.  In his hands rested seven slim music players.  Starkplayers.  Tony _loved_ music and his player was far superior to the iPods.  He held them out for Steve to collect.

“What are these for?” he questioned staring down at them.  Each was a different color.

“You were talking about how far behind you were on music since the forties.  So I went through and collected all of the songs from each decade you were asleep.  Each player covers its own decade.” Tony leaned closer and began pointing out which color player matched which decade.  Each player was clearly labeled for its corresponding period.  “It seemed like a good idea.  Everything is in order from the start of each decade.  You might recognize some of the earlier songs from the early forties and some of the more recent songs on the last player.”

Steve looked up from the players in his hands and smiled softly at Tony.  “You didn’t have to go through all of this trouble…”

“It isn’t fair that you’ve missed so much and it seemed like the best idea to introduce you to each decade of music.  We’ve already gone over most of the major historical events and almost all of the Disney movies.” The last was said with a grin as the doors opened.  Tony followed Steve down the hallway as he continued to explain the different ways he’d organized the various albums on the players.  He didn’t even realize when Steve had opened a door as he continued to ramble on.  Steve carefully set the players down on his bedside table before turning to the man still rambling on about the coding he’d used to program Steve’s players; the differences between them and the players actually on the market for others.

He reached out and dragged Tony closer to him silencing the long stream of words with his mouth.  A sigh escaped the other as Tony leaned closer to Steve, hands gripping the front of his shirt and allowing himself to be moved further into Steve’s space.  Steve moved back from Tony whose eyes were hooded.  “I love you.” It was soft, sure and honest.  Tony couldn’t breathe.

His brown eyes were staring at Steve in absolute wonder.  He’d often wondered about that warm feeling in his chest and had thought the feeling from Steve first kissing him was the most intense.  Tony was wrong.  This was.

His heart had stopped and then fluttered.  The world was still spinning and that feeling in his chest almost knocked him over.  Deep blue eyes were staring at Tony Stark with such emotion.  He wasn’t sure if anyone had looked at him like that before Steve.  If anyone would ever look at him like that.  But he was sure he’d seen versions of it before…all from Steve at various moments.  Tony wanted to say it back, but at the same time he wanted to wait.

As though the other man could read his mind Steve was dragging him closer once more and showing Tony just how much he loved him.  His lips moved against Tony’s as they were pressed close to each other and he relished in the feel of Tony so close.  Carefully he moved them closer to the bed and dragged Tony down with him.  He could feel the response to his ministrations and dragged his lips down to Tony’s neck before pulling away.  Steve pulled Tony closer and relaxed into the bed.

Tony’s head rested on one of the pillows as he stared at Steve who was grinning at him.  He wanted to pull Steve back into more of those amazing kisses.  Steve’s blue eyes were hooded and staring at him again.  They were always watching him.  It was something he’d realized.  Steve dragged him closer once more and Tony could feel him bury his face into his hair.  The rise and fall of the supersoldier’s chest helped his body to relax further.

He could feel sleep closing in as it worked to drag him into oblivion, but Tony was going to fight it for just a little while longer as he continued to listen to Steve’s steady breathing.  “I love you too.” It was whispered softly and with great care because he knew the power he’d given the other man.  But at this point Tony was more than willing to take that kind of risk…he was quite sure Steve wouldn’t make him regret it.  And he’d taken worse risks in the past.  This one seemed perfect for him.

Tony was warm and safe in his arms.  It was nice to finally know what it would be like to have Tony in his room and wrapped up in his arms.  But hearing those words from Tony made all the horrible things he’d seen in the War and since waking up in the future worth it.  Because that small guy from Brooklyn who was constantly being beaten up had never thought he’d actually find someone he’d love so much and who would love him back.  The future wasn’t too bad.  Steve smiled into Tony’s hair and allowed himself to finally drift off to sleep.

*

James stared up at Bruce Banner in awe and excitement with his mother watching from afar.  “You’re my favorite Avenger.” He grinned widely as Bruce stared down at him in mixed surprise and pleasure.

Tony Stark was practically bouncing as he moved about.  It was obvious he was having trouble containing his happiness and it was radiating from him in waves.  He’d been this crazed, happy mess since he’d come into the kitchen and it had been without the aid of coffee.  Tony had barely mentioned the little fan that was going to be showing up before the boy and his mother were actually there.

So far Tony had managed to see Steve off to get his shield and Captain America suit but the boy before Bruce was going on about the Hulk.  Bruce was stunned.  It was almost like a mini-Tony.  Someone who wasn’t scared of him and genuinely wanted to be around him despite the danger.  He’d tried not to grin when he’d seen the Hulk hands the boy was sporting when the elevator had let them in.

Peter watched from the side as the little boy met each Avenger, spoke with them and didn’t lose that look of awed excitement.  A small smile seemed to be etched into his features as he watched them.  James’ mother wandered over towards him.  “Were you invited as well?” she asked quietly as James let out a squeal of delight when Steve scooped him up to place him on his shoulders.  Bruce was laughing and Thor’s booming laugh joined shortly after.  It didn’t surprise Peter that Fury frequently wanted the Avengers to go to events to get good publicity for SHIELD.  Give them a kid and they were gold it seemed.

Tony appeared to have heard the question as he turned his attention from his teammates and the young fan.  “Peter’s my son.  I adopted him recently.” He grinned before turning back to the others once more.

“Oh.  I hadn’t heard anything about that.” She flushed with slight embarrassment at the mention of Tony’s celebrity.  But Tony waved it off as though it was nothing.  Peter wasn’t sure if anything could pop that happy bubble Tony seemed to be living in today.

“I try not to let such things make it to the news.  It wouldn’t be fair if Peter couldn’t walk down the street without being bothered or stalked by someone.  Figured he could use a normal summer before school starts back up.”

“Come on Stark.  Where is Iron Man?” Clint was smirking at him and Tony stuck his tongue out.  It earned him a chuckle and an exasperated look from Steve who had moved James back to the ground before letting him check out the shield.

But Tony couldn’t resist the remark even though he planned on letting James see his suit, “I am Iron Man.” It was said with a smirk and earned an amused grin from Natasha who remembered watching that press conference.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wanted to show a little Phil/Clint because I don’t really get to show much of them since I’ve been focusing on Steve/Tony. Hope everyone enjoys their weekend; I’m looking forward to watching the Avengers in the theater…again.
> 
> And thanks for the reviews/feedback! I'm going to try to clean up all my other chapters...fix any errors that I missed before I posted them.


	7. Rolling the Dice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slash in this chapter (if you want to skip it just hop down to the * as it is obvious when it starts)...it isn't anything explicit at this point.

The movie room was cast in a blue glow that ghosted over the sleeping heroes.  Natasha’s eyes scanned the room before settling on Bruce who was sleeping sprawled out in his typical chair with Zeus curled up on his chest.  The fury little chest rose and fell softly.  She pulled the throw closer to her body while tucking herself further into the other corner of the couch.    Her legs were tangled with Tony’s who was using Steve’s lap as a pillow.  Tony’s free arm dangled over the edge of the couch and brushed against Clint who was stretched out on the floor on a mountain of pillows.  Clint’s feet were propped up on Thor’s back who was holding onto Jane as though she was a teddy bear.  Coulson was actually sleeping in the plush chair nearest to Clint his legs up exposing the Captain America socks he was wearing. Peter was sprawled out on the ground near Bruce's chair clutching a pillow.  She felt a warmth sweep through her chest before she glanced back at the teammate she’d been charged with collecting in the beginning.

She still remembered him taking her aside shortly after Tony convinced them to move into the Tower.  Bruce had been fiddling with the cuff of his shirt before looking at her with complete sincerity.  “I’m truly sorry about the helicarrier, Nat.” it was said softly and was full of true regret.  She could hear the pain in his voice and recalled all of the words that had been said on the helicarrier.  And how he’d been treated by almost everyone.  About Bruce talking about how he’d tried to kill himself.  How Tony had approached him without fear and only respect; joking and bonding with Bruce.  Encouraging the other man if what she’d heard was true.  It had surprised her especially as she could recall the fear when he’d pretended to be angry in the beginning and she’d drawn her gun.  Natasha had allowed that to cloud her judgment.  A mistake she regretted later on.  Then she remembered him showing up in ill-fitting clothes on the back of a borrowed bike while they were surrounded by debris.  How the Hulk had caught Iron Man despite his propensity to _not show_ much concern for others when in that state.  That he’d done so without prompting; completely on his own initiative.

Natasha had closed the distance between them because for the Avengers to work they needed to work as people.  The Avengers needed to understand each other, needed to bond on some level—like Clint, Coulson and herself had formed bonds over the years during various ops—that would help all of them in the long run.  But at the same time she wanted to give Bruce Banner the same chance that Tony Stark had.  Because he deserved it.  “I forgave you.” She found herself murmuring and truly meaning it.  “Stark had it right in the beginning.  You should be treated differently than you have in the past; I’m sorry.” Natasha Romanov meant it.  Every word.  She watched as the cautious expression slowly faded from his face replaced by a small grin that caused his eyes to crinkle.

He held out a hand, “I’m Dr. Bruce Banner.”

She clasped his hand without hesitation, “I’m Natasha Romanov.  It is a pleasure to meet you, Dr. Banner.”

A soft laugh escaped now, “Please call me Bruce.”

Her mind snapped back to the present when she felt Tony moving slightly, his legs tangled even more with hers as a sigh escaped from his lips.  Tony’s face was smoothed out in sleep but there were still hints of that mischievous streak.  The Arc Reactor glowed softly adding its own unique blue to the room.  It lit up Steve Roger’s face and drew her attention to the content smile even in sleep that graced his features.  Carefully she snuggled into the soft, plush cushions of the couch and let her muscles relax.  Years ago she wouldn’t have imagined having anyone close to her; that she wouldn’t want to stab someone who wasn’t Clint or Coulson for calling her ‘Tasha’ or ‘Nat’.  Now she’d been given a family filled with the most dysfunctional, brilliant, funny, loyal and perfect people she’d crossed in all of her years.

When she woke up in the morning to see Clint grinning down at her with sleep ruffled hair Natasha only offered a slight glare that suggested he not say a word.  Glancing sideways she noticed that her fellow couch occupants had shifted and Tony was now fully stretched out on the couch with his head still on Steve; his legs were across her lap as he’d moved further down the couch.

Clint smirked, “Who would have thought?”

He didn’t have to finish.  They both knew what he meant.

*

There were doom bots everywhere and no sign of the Fantastic Four.  Iron Man scowled as another explosion rocked the area.  This was just getting pathetic.  Hawkeye took out one of the bots to his immediate left and Iron Man registered Captain America’s shield flashing through the sun as it knocked down another bot.  He took an abrupt turn upwards and spiraled to the right as three of them zeroed in on his location.  A smirk took over his features as another burst of speed gave him the needed distance as he stopped abruptly blasting two of them out of the sky with his repulsor beams before slamming a metal fist into the third causing it to explode.

“Take that bitches!” rang over the comm and Hawkeye’s choked laugh registered as Iron Man shot towards more of the chaos.  He could see BlackWidow on the ground working on destroying her own bot and then he caught the movement of another bot flying in her direction.  “Fuck.  Natasha.” The bot dropped something that was flashing.  “JARVIS?” Iron Man could hear Hawkeye’s voice over the comm; it was an insistent buzz in his ears demanding information even as he continued to pick off bots that were attacking Captain America and Thor who were fighting side by side on the ground.  His view did not include his longtime friend.

“An explosive, Sir.” Came the prompt response even as Iron Man put everything into his repulsors and shot towards the ground in a steep dive.  Clint’s voice pitched to a level of obvious panic as he couldn’t see his partner of more years than he bothered to count.  Iron Man’s arms wrapped around BlackWidow before he was blasting out of there.  The blast shook the street while the bot she had been fighting was destroyed by its fellow bot.  A roar of absolute rage tore through the air and caused a few doom bots to shudder.  Natasha tucked her face into the cool metal of the Iron Man suit as she clung to it feeling the air whip through her hair and the slight pressure of Gs against her body that were minimized by the improved suit.  A shudder moved through her body without her permission as she glanced at the carnage left in the wake of the blast; at the blackened ground where she had just been standing.

“Tasha!” Clint’s voice blasted over the comm even as BlackWidow held on tighter to the Iron Man suit and fought to regulate her breathing because no matter how many times she’d come close to death it honestly never got easier.  “Shit.  Fuck.  Stark?  Did you get her?” Hawkeye let another arrow fly as he continued to demand a status.  Coulson’s voice was trying to calm Hawkeye and obviously failing.

“I have her.” Iron Man turned towards the largest concentration of bots near Thor and Captain America as he hit the ground with his teammate.  “Fuck this.  They’re dead. Where the hell is Dr. Dumbass?” he scanned the environment even as he worked to take out several of the bots.  Unfortunately he did not locate Doom first; it was the Hulk who picked him up and threw him with a roar.  Thor was moving before any other Avenger could react to intercept the Hulk as he moved closer to the prone form of Doom.

Thor hauled the man up even as Captain America destroyed the last bot attacking.  Parts were everywhere and small fires blazed in the morning sun.  The god of thunder secured the threat as his fellow Avengers slowly made their way towards him.  By the time they arrived Bruce Banner stood in the place of the Hulk.  He was covered in dust, a few cuts and was securing his pants.  Without a thought he was striding towards Natasha and pulling her into a tight hug.  He had noticeably shoved the slight fatigue away.

“Are you alright?” concern laced his voice and Tony was grinning slightly as he watched his fellow Sciencebro check over Natasha.  Her eyes were soft as she smiled back slightly and looked over at Tony.

“Yeah.  Tony got to me before I even realized what was happening.” She murmured even as she could feel his hands checking her over.  “You don’t—” and then she wasn’t able to speak because Bruce Banner was kissing her as though his life depended on it.  Those assessing hands were now pulling her closer.  The last time she’d had someone she actually, honestly knew kiss her had been Clint Barton on a mission in Russia.  Since then she’d tried not to become attached because it was better to steel her heart and push through missions.  That was always easier.  There had been the occasional lover, but she had not really had time for much.  But this was nice and Bruce’s lips were warm.  She could feel the subtle muscles he hid with his dress shirts and lab coat moving as her hands moved up to wrap around him.  A grin could be felt against her lips before he was pulling away.

“I’m tired of dancing around this, Nat.”

“YES!!  Go Bruce!  Give her some giant green rage monster lovin’!” Tony’s voice cut through the air and caused startled laughter to escape from the group.  He didn’t get a chance to say anything else as Steve’s hand covered his mouth where only muffled mumbles could be heard.

“Tony.” It was admonishing and caused those mischievous brown eyes to glance over at him.  Coulson actually choked when he heard those words leave Tony’s mouth.

Clint stared at his partner and teammate.  Took in the expression, the loose lines of her body as the tension she was known for carrying eased and he could see how relaxed she was in Bruce Banner’s arms.  “So…I would say something about killing you if you hurt Tasha, but I’m pretty sure she’d take offense as she wouldn’t leave anything for me to kill.  Plus I might have hit my death threat quota for a while…”

Coulson stared at Clint, “Your lack of tact never ceases to amaze me.” Clint flashed a victorious grin.

“So who is up for some pasta?  There is an _amazing_ place about four blocks that way.” Tony pointed down the street with a hopeful expression on his face.  “Come on.  Save the world and have a breadstick!  It could be a motto or something.  And those salads, pastas, raviolis…” he trailed off slightly when he noticed the amused looks.  “What?” it came out defensive, “Food is good.”

“Food is amazing.” Clint agreed with a grin as SHIELD began moving in to take care of Dr. Doom and the cleanup began once more.

“Clothes are in the van.” Coulson responded as they began to move through the streets towards the waiting SHIELD van.  It was always a win when no one was seriously hurt.

Clint glanced sideways at Tony who instead of flying walked with them.  “How many of us have you saved now?” he questioned idly.  There was no insistence or emphasis on the question so it didn’t really draw any suspicion.  At least that was his goal.

“Who knows?  I’m not going to let anything happen to one of you.” He shrugged and glanced sideways with a grin.  “How was the bow?  Upgrades working fine?”

Years of working with Natasha and being around SHIELD agents made it easy for Clint to spot a subtle diversion from topic.  He’d let Stark have it.  After all without Iron Man Tasha was dead and he couldn’t imagine not joking about Budapest during serious battles.  Budapest that was nothing more than a drunken week after a huge Op that they’d both survived.  Tony would get this look on his face whenever he heard one of them mention it or a whine would come across the comm when one of them so much as _mentioned_ Budapest.  It was beyond amusing and he’d keep it up for as long as he could get away with it.

“It’s fine.” No need to gush over how amazing those upgrades were and how he’d been sleeping with it under his pillow for a week.  Stark didn’t need to get a bigger head than he already had.  It wouldn’t fit in his helmet.

“Fine?  Just _fine_?  Are you out of your mind Barton?  My upgrades…my tech is beyond words!  You will never find someone who can do a fraction of the things I do when it comes to inventing or tech!” Tony scoffed and crossed his arms.  “ _Fine_.  Pfft.”

Steve was grinning at him from Tony’s other side, the fond expression more open than in the past and a knowing expression was on Natasha’s face as she glanced back at him over her shoulder.  The cut on her forehead had stopped bleeding and Clint fought the urge to go punch Doom because that guy was an asshole.  He was the Fantastic Four’s villain dammit.  They didn’t go around pushing Loki off on other superheroes did they?  No.  They didn’t.  The Avengers dealt with Loki and the Fantastic Four should keep Doom in line.  It wasn’t that fucking hard.

*

Thor’s voice boomed through the main level of Avengers’ Tower and was followed by a colorful stream of curses from Clint.  “That is the sixth time you’ve caused me to wreck!  YOU’RE CHEATING SOMEHOW!”

Tony rolled his eyes and returned to staring down at the kitten who was staring up at him.  It blinked bright blue eyes at him and mewed pitifully.  They made him think of Steve.  Fuck, he was screwed.  He glanced around carefully before scooping Zeus up into his arms.  The kitten purred loudly and began rubbing against the Arc Reactor glowing under his shirt before batting at it.  Blue eyes completely focused on it.  A grin took over Tony’s features as he watched the tiny animal amuse itself with his reactor.  “The irony of your name is lost on Thor.  What was she thinking name _you_ Zeus?”

The name had come about when the little kitten had tried attacking Thor’s hammer, smacking at it and leaping on it.  Thor had proclaimed the kitten a fine little warrior before letting him rest on his shoulder.  Natasha had gotten a funny look on her face before deciding that naming the little fur ball Zeus was the best idea.

He walked towards the fridge and pulled out the kitten’s very own carton of milk.  A saucer was already waiting for him in his own little section of the kitchen with a bowl of kitten food.  Nothing but the best for those living in Avengers’ Tower.  That was Tony’s motto.  Tony sat down near the kitten with his back to the wall as he typed away on his tablet one hand idly stroking down the kitten’s back as it attacked the milk with gusto.

“Has anyone seen Tony?” a Steve’s voice called from the hallway which caused him to shrink in closer to himself in the hopes that no one would see him on the floor with the kitten he’d protested to in the beginning.

Peter’s head poked into the kitchen before looking around the island to see Tony tucked out of the way on the floor.  He grinned widely before calling out, “Nope!  I think he was going down to the lobby or something.  Maybe his floor…Is the racing tournament still on?” backing out he waved shortly before disappearing down the hall.

“Love that kid.” Tony murmured before glancing at the kitten that had stopped drinking to rub against him.  “This is between us.  Understand?” Zeus blinked at him before climbing up into his lap, little claws digging in for purchase before curling up as a soft purr filled the air.  Tony looked at his tablet which had a design for an AI powered litter box that was far more effective than those pieces of junk other ‘engineers’ had invented.  “Fuck.” He stared at the kitten, “You’re evil.  Causing me to sneak around and build you things…” carefully he scooped the kitten up and tucked him close to his chest before softly padding down the hallway towards the movie room.  He glanced in looking at his teammates sprawled out in various positions as Peter raced Thor on the screen.  Clint was sitting on the back of the couch with his body tensing as his eyes followed the moves on the screen.  Natasha and Bruce were in their usual chair, only instead of keeping to sides they were almost a mess of tangled limbs, as they watched the screen.  Coulson was sitting in the chair nearest to Clint looking over a few files from the most recent battle to make sure the report was complete for SHIELD.  Steve was nowhere to be seen.

Tony walked into the room and deposited the kitten into Clint’s lap without comment.  The archer’s hand came down to rest softly on Zeus’ head before moving to stroke him without looking away from the TV as Peter got in a great shot at Thor’s character knocking him off the course.

*

He made it four steps into his room before being turned by strong arms and then a pair of familiar lips were covering his own.  Tony gasped slightly into the kiss before relaxing as Steve dragged him closer.  His body relaxed into the supersoldier’s grasp as he allowed himself to be led further into the room.  Steve made it so easy to just give over control and go along for the ride; it was nice.  When this had first started Tony had felt some reluctance; it was reminiscent of the first time he’d actually gotten together with a girl when he’d been that genius teenager surrounded by far more advanced peers.  Her sister had been in his school and the girl had typically hung around waiting for her to leave the lab.  Two months of her glancing at him shyly, talking and hesitant kisses he’d found himself losing his virginity to a classmate’s sister who was his age while at a party. 

Soon Tony found himself covered by Steve who was pinning him to the sheets.  Lips moving with his and hands everywhere.  Tony could feel every line of the supersoldier pressed against his body and still it wasn’t close enough.  Part of him wanted to crawl inside Steve and never leave because the shear feelings the other man caused could make it so hard to breathe.  It wasn’t normal.  This couldn’t be normal.  Then he’d chastise himself for thinking such thoughts.  Of course at that point Steve would usually do something that would quickly make Tony decide that those thoughts were just fine where they were and could continue on because Steve’s hands were magical.  Just like his lips.  Hands moved to the bottom of his shirt and soon it was discarded on the floor before those fingers were dancing down his body.  Tony didn’t even think as his own began to follow a similar path on Steve’s own body.

Steve’s breathing had noticeably changed and Tony felt a small level of worry.  He was rapidly treading into waters he’d never been in before.  Fortunately Steve seemed to be quite aware of what he was doing which caused Tony to blink up at him when Steve pulled away from his neck.  Blue eyes were watching him cautiously as Steve stilled himself while being mindful of not putting too much weight on the smaller man.

“Tony?” Steve questioned softly staring down at the other.

Tony looked sideways as his chest rose and fell; his whole body was humming with a very obvious need.  “I…umm…don’t.” it was babbling and he knew it.  Fuck…he could feel his face heating up.  This was embarrassing and way to kill the moment Tony.  _Way to fucking go_.  Seriously.

The same grin stole over Steve’s face as he moved slightly and whatever Tony was going to say was lost in a strangled groan.  Brown eyes closed and Steve took obvious delight in the sound he’d elicited.  “During the War,” he began, “Some of the guys would…find comfort in each other.  You learn things when you’re bunking with a bunch of guys in the middle of a warzone.” Steve explained softly, “I won’t hurt you…or we can wait.”

Now Tony was staring up at him before glancing around, “I don’t think…I have…” Steve had been around Tony enough that he could figure out what the other man meant from the babbling.

That warm body was gone and Tony whimpered as he turned his head sideways to watch as _Steve Fucking Rogers_ reached into his nightstand and pulled something out he _knew_ had not been there the whole time.  There was no way.

“Did the sex fairy leave something in my nightstand?” he raised an eyebrow at the slight blush on Steve’s face that was replaced by a rather wicked look that Tony wasn’t sure he could remember seeing on Steve’s face.  It was new.  Tony quite liked it.  It caused amazing things.

Then the weight was back and Tony realized that there wasn’t near enough skin on skin contact because he was throwing caution to the wind.  Fuck hesitation.  There was no place for it.  He wrapped an arm around Steve to drag him closer to claim his lips.  “Fucking love you.” He murmured and the delighted look on Steve’s face was worth more than anything in the world.  His fortune failed to compare to the knowledge that he’d made someone like Steve Rogers so happy with just words.  Tony could feel those surprisingly nimble fingers moving down his side to hook on the edge of his boxers.  It was make or break it; almost without thought he lifted his hips to help and then there was only one thing left.  Tony moved his hands down and began tugging until he’d accomplished his goal.

There was nothing between them anymore.

Tony’s mind was fuzzy and he could only focus on the hands that were on him.  Pleasure was everyone’s friend.  His head pushed back into the mattress and he could only idly wonder if Steve was just perfect at everything.  Honestly.  Lazily he noted another sound of something opening and then felt those hands moving lower before he arched.  It was different and hurt somewhat; Tony squirmed slightly and then he was trying to think as Steve’s lightly bit his neck before the world went blindingly brilliant with pleasure.  That was different.  It was so different and why had he worried?  This was just…amazing and perfect and _ooooh_ _right there_.  Still a different feeling, but he wasn’t thinking about it because Steve had hit the right spot.  Then he could feel stretching and moved because that amazing feeling would still strike ever so often.   There was a slight discomfort, but Steve was doing a brilliant job of distracting him.  That and his mind wouldn’t shut up.

He didn’t even realize he’d taken to speaking most of his thoughts as another moan tore its way through his throat.  Then the fingers were gone and he whined slightly because that had felt amazing.  Why was Steve stopping?

“Are you sure?” the words barely made it to Tony’s mind as he was too busy trying to figure out why it had stopped.  Steve looked down at Tony prepared to change course if Tony wasn’t ready.

“Fuck…Yessss.  Why did you stop?” he whined reaching up and trying to pull Steve back.  Tony’s cheeks were flushed and his hair mussed; Steve wanted to keep that image forever.  He’d have to commit it to paper…something that beautiful should be drawn.

And then Tony felt Steve moving him and then there was nothing separating them.  Flushed skin against flushed skin.  He shifted slightly as the feeling was so drastically different and he needed to adjust, but those lips were on him again.  Strong hands were holding him, a soft litany of words of love and care filled his ears.  Then Steve was moving and that feeling from before came back; Tony allowed himself to follow Steve’s lead as he felt a hand wrap around him.

*

Clint turned to look over at Phil who had turned an interesting shade of red.  “I think they’re busy.”  A rather loud moan punctuated the statement as a wicked grin took over his features.  “Very busy.  The good Captain is—” Phil actually slapped his hand over Clint’s mouth.

“Don’t.  Just don’t.” he reluctantly pulled his hand away before physically dragging Clint from the door to Tony’s bedroom where the sounds were definitely getting louder.  Yep.  That was Stark.  Captain America had caused that.  His face heated up further.  It was wrong.  Oh so very wrong.  His strides picked up as Clint continued to grin at him widely.  Now if you were completely naïve you might wonder why Stark was praying that loud.  Especially since Steve Rogers was a human and really should Stark be saying that?  No…he wasn’t going there.  Seriously.  Never going on this floor again.  Never.

“Oh come on!  They were just getting started!” it was said with amusement.  “Do you have any idea what kind of money we could get for a sex tape of Captain America and Tony Stark?  Fury could get another helicarrier!  Possibly two of them.”

“What is wrong with you?  I want to know.” Coulson reached the elevator that was already opening before he’d even gotten there.  It shut just as quickly as JARVIS whisked them back to the main floor.

“I bet they have incredible stamina.  Especially Captain America.  Imagine what the supersoldier serum did for him in that area?  And Stark has been training more with Tasha so you know he’s in shape.” Clint was enjoying this far too much.  He couldn’t help it though.  Watching Phil squirm at the thought of his idol having sex with Tony Stark was beyond hilarious.  His mind flew over what else he could possibly say to turn that face even redder.  He loved winding Phil up.  Far too much.

“I will shoot you.” It was a threat and Clint was debating on how real of a threat it was.  Phil’s eye twitched.  A very real threat then.

Phil was once more dragging him down the hallway towards the sounds of racing on the TV in the movie room.  He shoved Clint into one of the chairs and pointed at him.  “Sit.  Stay.  Do.  NOT.  Say.  _Anything_.” He turned from his partner muttering under his breath, “I need alcohol.  Where does Stark keep the good stuff?”

The others paused their game and were staring at Clint who was shaking with silent laughter.  Eyes bright with delight as he worked to keep himself from saying one last jab.  It probably wouldn’t be worth it.  Then again there would be more opportunities…he was sure of it.

A few hours later saw Steve and Tony quietly sneaking towards the kitchen.  Clint watched them as they paused in the doorway and waggled his eyebrows with a leer in place.  “Hello there.” He didn’t remove his eyes even as Steve grinned widely back at him and Tony threw a glare in his direction.

“Dad?” Peter’s voice cut through the staring between Clint and Tony.

“Yes?” it was casual because Tony was not going to let even a hint escape in front of Peter.  He would have flipped out had that happened with his own father and that relationship hadn’t been that great.

“Is it your turn to cook?” he asked hopefully because Peter did not want to cook.  No, he really didn’t.

Tony glanced sideways at Steve who appeared to be on cloud nine and he found a grin tugging at his lips, “Yeah.  Any requests?”

Peter’s brown eyes lit up, “Can we have enchiladas?  Ooh and chips and cheese?” a sound of delight escaped Peter as he closed his eyes just thinking about it.  “That just sounds…amazing.” He was now staring back at Tony who was watching him with obvious amusement.

“Sure.  I think I can pull that off.” Tony grabbed onto Steve’s wrist and was toting him towards the kitchen.  “You can be my assistant.”

Clint’s voice followed them, “You’re taking after Tony far too much…”

They made it to the kitchen before Steve had pushed Tony against the wall kissing him soundly before pulling away, “You’re a fantastic father.”

Tony blinked up at him in slight amazement, “Really?”

“Really.” Steve grinned before turning to look around the kitchen.  “So what do we need?”

*

Hill walked into Director Fury’s office trying to suppress a grin.  After all in her mind this was karma for Fury not listening to her and then doing highly _stupid_ things since the idea of the Avengers Initiative was first dreamed up.  She dumped the huge folder onto his desk and took a few steps back.  Her stance was slightly relaxed and an air of smugness almost seemed to fill the room.  That one eye was staring at her; Nick Fury had yet to reach for the huge file folder that almost seemed to be taunting him.

“What is this, Agent Hill?” he questioned softly not moving his eye from her.  This didn’t seem good.

“You asked for all of the recent stories, actions, news and activity etc of the Avengers.  Specifically Tony Stark and Captain Steve Rogers.  This is the most up-to-date information.  Though it updates constantly.” Her voice was level but it didn’t change the glint in those deep blue eyes.  Agent Hill was an excellent Agent; she got results and followed orders _almost_ without issue.  But Fury knew she questioned his actions and orders frequently.  It wasn’t even a question.  She’d been highly disapproving of him telling the Avengers that Agent Coulson had died and then using Coulson’s cards to push them.  Agent Hill did not appreciate being lied to about her fellow Agent either.  She really didn’t.

“Updates constantly?”

“There have been several incidents in public that have involved the Avengers.  Stark and Rogers have a Facebook page dedicated to their relationship which has an unholy amount of fans.  Some Avengers fan wrote a poem about a food fight between Barton and Stark in a grocery store.  I found footage of a little version of Stark and Rogers fighting in a food court at a shopping center with a toy shield and hammer.  Another image of Thor flipping a camera off…based on the expression on Agent Romanov’s face I believe she is responsible for that.  Both Banner and Stark have been down in the R&D Department for various reasons…I finally found the witness who caught Barton shooting suction-cup arrows at junior agents from the ceiling.  The list goes on, Sir.” The twitching of Fury’s good eye warmed Hill’s heart.  Just a little too much.  It looked like she owed Stark for supplying some of the information with a far too gleeful grin.  She would not be sharing the source of some of those videos because they were far too amusing and with that combination of people there were bound to be more.  It made no sense to destroy any chances of further amusement.

“Oh…is that all?” it was said sarcastically.

Hill put a thoughtful expression on her face before it slipped back into her unaffected mask she typically sported while working.  “Thor and Steve Rogers both have Ebay accounts…there is also a theory that Agent Coulson is a potential candidate for President and that he _will win_.  Apparently the Avengers would be appointed to various Government positions.  Tony as Secretary of Defense is my favorite.  It appears as though there would not be much opposition to this either.” A small grin tugged at her lips before they smoothed out, “My favorite involves Coulson, Rogers, Stark and Barton.” She said no more watching his face and the various expressions flashing across it.

A sigh.  “And?”

“Tony Stark gave Thor an actual lightsaber.” This was far too much fun, she could hear Tony laughing in her ear and Clint voicing more suggestions.  “Apparently Stark is also taking Banner skydiving.  He is curious if Banner will Hulk out in mid-fall and what the results of that experiment would be.” Clint’s voice was easy to hear above Stark’s as he burst out laughing.  She managed to hold back a wince because they were having more fun than her apparently.  But she was the one looking at the Director so that was a point for her.  _Tell him that a junior agent got ahold of Steve and has convinced him that Inglorious Bastards is historical fact! A—_ There was an obvious scuffle on the other end of the comm, _That wouldn’t work.  Honestly Barton.  Maria…tell Fury that you overheard Barton talking about something being in the food in the cafeteria…_

“Can you hear that, Agent Hill?” Nick Fury watched as she cocked her head to the side before shaking it, “That is the sound of my sanity dying a painful death…fucking Stark.”

“Would this be a bad time to mention that it appears as though Agent Barton did something to the cafeteria food..?” it was innocently asked.

Nick Fury got to his feet and had a comm out as he strode out of the door, turning slightly.  “I’ll go over the… _book_ you turned in.  Thank you Agent Hill.” Then he was gone.  She made it back to her own office before a snicker escaped.

“Oh Maria Hill…you might be my favorite SHIELD Agent.” Tony Stark’s voice filtered over the comm in her ear.  Amusement coated his voice and Barton could be heard letting lose peals of laughter in the background.  “Seriously.  You might also be my hero.  I’m trying to decide…nope.  No question.  You are my hero.”

“What time works for us to meet?  I want to talk upgrades, new weapons and that prototype you were offering.” Because despite the amusement she’d just gained there had been a real reason for agreeing to go into her superior’s office to say all of those outrageous statements.

Tony consulted with JARVIS about the next day, “How about tomorrow at one?  We’ll grab lunch and then hit the R&D Department?”

“Deal.” She could hear the moment that the device disconnected and she was once more alone.  Maria Hill leaned back in her chair and felt a sense of accomplishment.  Sometimes it was a little fun to bend the rules…maybe Director Fury should have taken some of her helpful advice.

On the other end of the disconnected comm Tony smirked and high-fived Clint Barton.  “Sometimes my own genius surprises me…” he trailed off before grinning widely, “Who am I kidding?  My genius is obvious to any and all.”

“Who knew Agent Hill even had a humorous bone in her body?”

Coulson stood in the doorway staring at Stark and Clint with a raised eyebrow, “Maria can appreciate a good prank.  It might help that she has wanted to get back at the Director for some of the reckless decisions he has made lately.”

Tony simply smiled before turning back to the monitor, “JARVIS…you hacked the video feed in Fury’s office.  Right?”

“Yes, Sir.  Shall I begin playing it?” it was spoken in that British voice that spoke vaguely of amusement.

“Without question.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm hoping I did not fuck that up...the Bruce/Natasha in the beginning came out of nowhere because I was not planning on that (to happen in this chapter)...it just kind of happened.
> 
> Still need to go edit my other parts/stories...but I just had to write this before the school week starts back up.
> 
> Oh...if you haven't watched the outtakes for the Avengers...the Maria Hill part was AMAZING.
> 
> Note: Even though this Tony has only ever been with women I was NOT having him freak out about it...to me Tony Stark doesn't mind trying something new and with Steve there was little question about actually being with him because he honestly loves Steve. Basically he has decided to throw caution to the wind and just go with it because Steve hasn't led him astray so far.


	8. Steve's New Friend

“Why?” Tony hit his knees, voice raised dramatically in an obviously horrified tone.  His arms were raised towards the sky as an agonized expression twisted his handsome features.  “Why God?  _Why_?” a moan of despair followed as Steve pinched the bridge of his nose with his eyes closed in exasperation.  He hadn’t even had the chance to change out of his jogging clothes before he’d stumbled upon the scene in the kitchen; which had mostly been Clint raiding Tony’s hidden cereal stash.  It had been in the middle of cooking that Tony had seen the evidence.  Now the spoon was halfway to Clint’s mouth, but now was frozen as he stared down at Stark from his perch on the counter.  An empty box of cereal lay on its side next to him.  Suddenly Tony’s hand snapped forward to lock onto Clint’s ankle.  “WHY?!” the pitch rose further in absolute distress.

“ _What the fuck_?” Clint continued to stare down at Tony whose hair was sticking up in all directions; Zeus was batting at his left foot and Natasha was standing behind him with an expression of amusement.  She tugged on Tony’s hair to get him to tilt his head back in order to look at her.

“Tony.” There was a warning note in her voice even as her lips quirked into a smile. “Would you like some French toast with powdered sugar?” Tony nodded silently as Clint gawked at her aghast.

“I want some!” he whined.

“Then you should not have eaten the last of Tony’s cereal.” Bruce snickered from his spot at the island.  “Now go drink your coffee.” The second sentence was directed at Tony as she released his hair watching as he stood up as though nothing had happened.

Steve stared at her.  “Wow.” Blue eyes blinked at the scene that saw Tony acting almost like a normal adult drinking his coffee.  Idly he noted the SHIELD logo and tried not to grin.  Tony had swiped that mug from Fury’s office.  Bruce lifted the Stark Industries mug to his lips to hide his grin as Natasha began cooking.  The Hulk slippers on her feet were adorable and he found himself falling for her a little more.  Steve finally took a seat with his own food he’d managed to make during the cereal crisis.  The serum burned through calories so quickly; Tony had once pointed out how inhuman and unfair it was while Coulson had stood by shaking his head.  Eggs, hash browns, bacon, pancakes and fruit were now all placed before him.  Tony snagged a strawberry with a quick grin.  He shook his head and pushed a glass of orange juice at Tony with a pointed look.  Tony pouted but took a drink before draining the glass with a wide obnoxious smile on his face as he set it back down.  It caused the supersoldier to shake his head with fondness before turning to his meal.

A whip sound filled the kitchen followed by the sound of someone getting the back of their head struck by an open hand.  Coulson took a seat by Steve as Clint hunched his shoulders before taking a bite of his cereal.  A few minutes later and Pepper was striding into the kitchen just as Tony was attacking his plate of breakfast with uncontained pleasure.

Pepper shook her head with a soft grin because getting Tony to eat so regularly was still something that amazed her.  The Avengers appeared to be doing him some good in more ways than she’d imagined.  Pepper placed the Starkpad down next to him.  “You have a few meetings, a speech and need to check over the R&D Department in Malibu.” She spoke softly because even though he’d moved her to CEO and had absorbed some of the responsibility back after the attack on New York City she still liked to personally push him in the right direction in these incidences.  “The plane leaves at noon today.  You’re already packed.  I made sure of it.” A small smirk tugged at her lips now.  “However you have yet to inform me of who is coming with you.”

Tony took a huge bite and chewed with deliberate slowness.  He really didn’t want to go to those meetings…they were boring and he could be using that time to work in his own workshop.  Or be with Steve.  Or be in his workshop _with_ Steve.

“I’m coming with Tony.” Natasha’s voice broke through the silent staring match that Pepper had been engaging Tony in as he continued to eat without answering.

Clint made a noise of protest.  Stark had prototypes he would be _testing_ that made things _explode_.  There was no way he wasn’t taking that opportunity.  “ _I’m going!_ ”

The two assassins locked eyes while Clint jutted out his chin in defiance.  “No one can leave you two unsupervised for more than five minutes!  Look at that grocery store.” Natasha raised an eyebrow.

Tony turned back to Pepper, “I’m taking both of them!” because now he had ideas.  It wouldn’t hurt to have two of them testing out things.  Plus Natasha could scare those stuffy suits.  “Natasha has worked within the company before and I promised Clint he could come a few weeks ago.”

Steve was noticeably pouting, but he already knew he was staying because Tony wanted someone to make sure Peter was ok while he was gone.  He trusted Steve the most.

“Alright.  I hope you have your things packed.” Pepper merely gave Natasha a slight smile before turning sharp eyes onto Clint.  “One more egg incident.  _Just one_.” The threat was obvious.  “I’m not flying out to Malibu.  Understand?”

Clint saluted her and began inhaling his cereal before hoping down to go pack.  There was a noticeable skip in his step.

*

The dummy set up on the hill exploded in a fiery ball of death as Clint let out a whoop of excitement.  “Yes!  Fuck yes.  Did you see that?” he was grinning, blood pumping and far too much happiness for blowing something up.

“I’m pretty sure that was hard to miss.  Did you see that fireball?”  Natasha asked with a slight grin.  She was lying on the grass next to Clint and Tony with her own prototypes to test.

“I’d like to see one of those fucking Doom Bots survive that.” Tony smirked as he changed the setting on his own prototype.  “Alright…my turn.” He took aim as the other two turned their eyes back to the dummy Tony was aiming at.  It looked a little bit like Justin Hammer.  No one was questioning it considering Clint had demanded his look like Loki.  “Fucking Hammer.” Tony muttered under his breath before pushing the button.  The only sound was a slight sizzle before they could feel their hair standing on end.  The bolt that struck the Hammer dummy fried it before it caught fire.  “Of course when you’re using that against robotic opponents it shouldn’t catch fire like that.”

They nodded their heads as Natasha began fiddling with the new wrist weapon Tony had equipped her with.  “So what does mine do?”

“The question you should be asking, Tasha, is what _doesn’t_ yours do?”

She changed a few settings before taking aim.  The following _boom_ could be heard echoing through the valley.  “I think I might love you, Stark.” Clint’s voice sounded awed as he stared at the smoking crater left by Natasha’s weapon.

“I do vaguely remember someone saying they were not going to be making weapons anymore.”

“Not for customers or on a mass scale for purchase.  When it comes to my teammates or my own suit…well I can trust those hands.  Plus all of your weapons only recognize the person they’re designed for or a fellow Avenger.  The one I just fired is something modified that I had planned on installing in my Iron Man suit.”

“Oh.”

“What’s next?” Clint was almost vibrating with excitement.  “Do you have any of those arrows?”

“Clint…my friend.  I have many different archery items for which you may try out.  Or you can field test them during battle.  Whichever you prefer.”

“Yep.  Its love.  I feel so much love right now.”

“Careful, Clint.  Steve might feel that love from New York and break you in half.” She snickered before turning back to her wrist unit already wondering what she could use next.

“So…Bruce?” Clint waggled an eyebrow.  “I heard you two in the rec room.”

She raised an eyebrow at him before a smile quirked at her lips, “Who haven’t you heard have sex?” she asked as Tony actually choked and stared at Clint.

“You haven’t heard me!” he exclaimed fingers idly running over the weapon in his hands.

The leer on Clint’s face was all he needed, “Oh I’ve heard you alright.  I haven’t kept track of the amount of times.  Honestly…the gym?  _The library_?  Pretty sure what I heard last week was in the workshop.” That tone was a judging tone.  Tony didn’t feel Clint had the right for a judging tone.

Natasha was vaguely surprised that Tony’s face had turned an interesting shade of red before he began to shove the expression down, “Never took you for a peeping tom, Barton.”

“Haven’t seen anything.  Though I don’t think Phil will ever look at his hero the same again.”

Tony was not going down without fighting and couldn’t resist, “Apparently the serum didn’t enhance _everything_.” Clint turned his head and stared at Tony with eyebrows raised in surprise.  “That’s right.” He grinned.

She didn’t even bother attempting to cover up her impressed expression, “You mean little Steve Rogers wasn’t so little?”

“Wow.  I’m _so_ telling Phil that.”

Tony snickered and Natasha followed as they lay there laughing in the grass with destruction laying before them, weapons discarded on the ground and grass stains finding homes on their clothes.

Then it turned slightly serious as Natasha turned inquiring eyes on Tony, “He is being good to you, right?” she asked softly watching as Tony got a stupid grin on his face.

“I’m trying to figure out why it took me so long to realize…” Tony allowed himself to relax, a truly free smile on his face instead of that horrible fake one he showcased in public.  Then he moved the topic to another point of interest.  “How can people judge someone for loving another because of their gender?” he asked quietly.  His fingers traced the outline of the arc reactor as Natasha rolled on her side to stare at him.

“It doesn’t matter who you love as long as you love them.” It was said with absolute conviction.  “You just hadn’t found a guy who you were interested in.  Steve is a good fit for you.”

Tony’s forehead scrunched up, “I’ve had two serious relationships.  Pepper and Steve.  Everything else was meaningless.  Sex was just sex.  A way to blow off steam, a brief human connection before going back to my bots and JARVIS.  Maybe that makes me a horrible person; I didn’t leave my partner unsatisfied and never set out to harm them, but there was never a chance of anything more than one night.”

“Nothing wrong with that.” Natasha reasoned, “You weren’t harming anyone.  _Tony_.  You just needed someone who was worth it.  Pepper you had a connection with already; you just weren’t a perfect fit for each other.”

“What about Steve?” Tony asked, “I keep waiting to fuck that up.  He’ll realize that I’m too broken and not worth the effort.  Steve will find someone who is a far better fit.” He shrugged slightly.  Then it was as though he’d shaken that line of thought off.  “Apparently Rhodey gets to come back for a few weeks this month.  Haven’t seen him…in months.”

“Does he know about Steve?” Clint was smirking slightly to himself.

A frown appeared on Tony’s features, “I said something to him shortly after…he hasn’t mentioned anything since.”

“Love how this conversation went from explosions and weapons to thoughts on same sex relationships before venturing over into you being stupid…again.”

“Watch it Barton.”

“Why wouldn’t you deserve Steve?  Honestly.  You’re being incredibly stupid.  He is just as likely to fuck up as you are.  You are probably his first actual relationship.  Steve doesn’t necessarily know what he is doing either.  And in relationships you piss each other off.  Sometimes one of you gets tazed, but that is beside the point.”

“Agent totally tazed you.” Now a smirk stretched across Tony’s face.

“I will neither confirm nor deny.”

“Who wants something to eat?” Tony jerked up into a sitting position.  “Food sounds _amazing_.”

*

Peter was staring down at Steve with a look that greatly resembled pity.  This couldn’t end well.  Especially since the National Icon was on the ground being licked by a scruffy puppy.  The very happy ball of excitement was all over Steve.  Scrambling paws, bright eyes, whole body shaking and tongue everywhere.

“Isn’t he adorable?” Steve asked with a laugh.  His blue eyes were bright as he ruffled the puppy’s face causing those ears to flop around.  “I’ve always wanted a dog…”

Big blue eyes stared up at Peter; the puppy turned his head to stare as well with brown eyes looking at Peter as the teenager sighed.  “You’re a grown man…you should not be doing that.” He muttered crossing his arms and looking away.  “We were supposed to pick up kitten food and replace the destroyed food bowl.” He cocked an eyebrow.  “Does dad even like dogs?” he questioned as Steve hugged the puppy to his chest effectively dirtying up his shirt.

“Peter.  As you have pointed out I am the adult here and as a responsible adult I cannot in good conscience leave this poor animal behind.”

“That is why they created shelters.” Now a smirk pulled at Peter’s lips.  “I can do this all day long.”

It must have been something he said because it set Steve off into uncontrollable laughter.  “I’m sure you could.” His eyes were sparkling with humor and crinkled at the sides.  The smile was quite wide.  “We’re going to need to get him some food.  Toys.  A bed…bowls, treats…” Steve scooped the puppy up into his arms carefully maneuvering wiggling legs and excited puppy in such a way that he could carry the dog without much problem.  The puppy’s face was mostly black with some white around his mouth stretching down to cover his belly, most of his legs and some of his back.  Black dominated the dog’s back with a splash of brown around his face.  Steve had found a very endearing puppy.

Peter shook his head before following along as the puppy stared at him with such a happy expression.  A smile stretched across his face.  “He is kind of adorable…”

Triumph stole over Steve’s face.  “Of course he is.  I wonder what kind of dog he is…”

“I’m sure they’ll have books we can look at.  We’ve just got a few blocks.”

Carefully Peter reached over to ruffle the puppy’s black floppy ears; a look of absolute delight crossed the puppy’s face as his tongue flapped out.  A woman nearby made a cooing noise that caused Peter to blush as he pulled his hand back.  Steve grinned at him shifting the puppy slightly as the dog’s head leaned over his arm to stare at Peter with that same happiness.

They walked into the store with the puppy as Steve looked around at all the items.  “Wow…pet stores have gotten bigger.” He muttered slightly as the dog seemed to agree letting out a bark as his tail began to wag in earnest.

An employee walked towards them blatantly staring at Steve; her name tag read Amie, “He’s taken.” Peter spoke when the woman continued to stare at Steve who hadn’t even been paying attention.  An annoyed look was directed towards Peter who stared back unimpressed.

Steve glanced over, “Peter.” It was said warningly before he turned his blue eyes on the woman, “We’re looking for supplies for a new puppy and to see if we can find out what breed of dog he is.” Steve flashed a hopeful smile.  The woman practically melted and was more than happy to help them.  She obviously ignored Peter’s comment from before in favor of paying Steve more attention.

The puppy ended up with a deep red collar with a silver bone tag supplying information in case he was lost.  Steve had named the puppy Cooper.  Two huge pillows were picked out for the puppy to sleep on though Peter had a feeling Steve was the type of owner to let the dog in the bed.  Several chew toys, bowls, bones, a huge bag of food along with three types of treats, puppy shampoo/soap and a brush were grabbed from the shelves.  Peter stared at the pile of items and shook his head as Steve considered more toys.  “I think he has enough…” it was said under his breath as the woman returned with a book.

“I found your puppy.” She grinned at Steve as she held up the book to show a picture of an English Springer Spaniel.  Her body was leaning right into Steve’s side as she appeared to be helpfully showing Steve her find.

Peter felt his hackles rise; that his was dad’s significant other and Tony wasn’t around to get her to back off.  Well he was stepping up to the plate.

“Pops?  Did you speak with Dad about when he was getting back from Malibu?”

Steve started and turned wide eyes onto Peter who was staring at him casually to an unobserved eye.  However he could see the annoyance in the teen’s eyes as he stared at the woman who was backing away from Steve in surprise.  “Today or tomorrow.”

“He’s your son?” she asked faintly.

“Of course I am.” Peter gave off an indignant air as he raised an eyebrow at her, “I told you he was already taken.  I don’t think my dad would like to find out someone was hitting on Pops like this.”

Her face paled slightly, “I’m sorry, sir.  Are you ready to be rung up?  Do you need someone to help you carry anything out?” she asked snapping back into ‘good employee mode’.

Peter stared at her, “It’s ok.  I’ll just call Happy to let him know we need to be picked up.” The teen pulled his phone out and headed away from them as Steve shook his head.

“Tony has rubbed off on him…” he murmured to himself before giving the employee a small smile.  “We’re ready.”

She nodded and walked briskly away as Peter came back, “Happy said he’ll be here in ten.”

“Pops?” Steve questioned softly as the puppy sighed and relaxed into his arms.

He shrugged, “Worked.” As though it justified everything.

Steve wasn’t sure what the teen would think if he told him that he didn’t mind being called that.  He’d hoped to start a family of his own eventually; it was one of those dreams he’d had when hoping that the War would end.  If everything went to plan then he would be keeping Tony for the long run because Steve was in this relationship for keeps.

He handed over the card to the cashier who stared at the name on the card and back at him before finally swiping it.  Happy was walking into the door as Steve received his receipt.  Peter held onto the bags that held kitten items as he rocked back on his heels giving Happy a slight grin.

Happy smirked faintly as he noted the puppy in Steve’s arms.  “Does the Boss know about your new little friend?” he asked as he grabbed a few bags himself.

“Nope.  He doesn’t.” Peter chuckled as they headed outside; Happy grinned back as he popped the trunk.

“Never thought I would see Tony with animals.”

“I don’t think of animals when I think of him…I think of bots and technology.  You know…things that don’t need food.”  Peter set the bags inside the trunk before pulling open the door.  Steve set the puppy on top of his lap with a smirk closing the door before he began to start loading the rest.

Steve finally climbed into the backseat and looked over at the puppy that was resting on Peter who had given up trying to fight off the expression of fondness the puppy was causing.

“Gone for a week and a half.  That’s all it took.”

Happy finally pulled up to the Tower as they collected as many bags as possible; Peter balanced two bags with the puppy while Steve effectively grabbed the majority of the bags with ease and left the two huge pillows for Happy to help with as they headed towards the elevator.

“JARVIS?” Steve questioned as the AI took them to the main floor.  Thor ended up meeting them at the door and stared at the new addition with curiosity. 

“Another noble creature?” he questioned reaching out a hand to ruffle the dog’s head with a huge grin.  “Have we named it yet?”

“He.” Steve corrected before staring at the puppy in Peter’s arms.  “Cooper.  I liked that name.”

“Cooper.” Thor tested it out, “Another fine name for a tiny little warrior.” He beamed as Zeus came padding into the room.  Zeus sat down and let a plaintive meow escape which caused Cooper to stir.  Head cocked to the side the puppy’s tongue flopped out as he watched the kitten avidly.

“Bath time.” Steve reached over to grab the bag with shampoo in it and then collected the puppy before heading down the hallway towards the nearest bathroom with the kitten following at a slow pace.  Peter stared after him.

“When is dad arriving?” he asked casually.

“Tony is on his way.” Thor looked down the hall after Steve, “It has been calm around here.  I’ve been looking forward to another bout.  Do you think Tony will put on his suit of metal to spar?”

“Maybe.  You’ll have to ask when he arrives.” Peter began collecting bags as Thor grinned to himself; Peter had some bowls to wash and food to put up.  The toys and beds remained in their spot for the time being.

*

Tony waited for the elevator doors to open.  All he wanted was to relax; there was nothing good about being surrounded by that many idiots or talking in front of a huge crowd that probably understood a fraction of his speech.  The only highlight had been blowing things up and working on various projects.  Doors slid open and Tony walked out as his companions followed.

He noted a few bags and what looked like giant pillows near the doorway before he could hear the skittering of claws on the floor.  Tony turned to see Zeus tearing up the hallway towards him.  The kitten leaped through the air into Tony’s arms as they came up automatically to catch the kitten.  Unfortunately he had not noticed the reason for Zeus’ escape as the puppy came tearing down the hallway after Zeus unable to slowdown.  Cooper slid into Tony’s legs as the billionaire tried to move, stepped wrong and went down.

It took only seconds before Cooper was all about licking the face of the newest person he’d come across.  Zeus took his stand on top of Tony’s arc reactor with his paw raised in threat as he puffed up and stared the puppy down who was all over Tony.  Steve came skidding down the hallway; clothes slightly wet while he held a towel and collar.

A sheepish expression stole over his face as he looked down at Tony who was the center of an animal standoff.  “…welcome home?” he smiled softy as Tony stared up at him before letting his head fall back onto the ground.

“Home?  I’m home?  I thought this was some animal rescue point.” He muttered as the elevator opened up once more.

Footsteps sounded near his head as Coulson and Bruce stood over him with expressions of amusement.  “Stark.  How many times must I ask you to stop playing on the floor?”

“I don’t even know who this is!” Tony pointed an accusing finger at Cooper whose tail began wagging in excitement.  It appeared as though Cooper decided he was quite interested in Tony.  Zeus hissed from the arc reactor.

“That’s Cooper.”

Coulson’s lips twitched, “Your new friend, Captain?”

“Steve found him abandoned on the streets.” Peter supplied helpfully from the doorway.  He grabbed the towel from Steve, wrapped the puppy up and handed him over to the supersoldier.  “Looks like your buddy escaped before you were done.” The smirk from before was back.

Tony patted Zeus on the head as the kitten purred at his touch; there was a smug air about the little fur ball.  “Cooper?  Who named the dog?”

“Steve.”

He looked over at Steve who was practically cuddling the puppy whose whole body was shaking with happiness.  It was safe to say that Steve was already attached to him.  _Dammit_.  No way to convince them to find the dog a new home.  Tony looked at the puppy once more.  What was one more animal?  If they took care of it and he wasn’t the one taking it out in the middle of the night to go the bathroom.  It would probably end up being one of those things that became everybody’s responsibility.  He just knew it.

“Fine.” He sat up as Zeus slid down his chest to land in his lap.  The kitten stared up at him with big eyes.

It took only a minute once he got to his feet before Steve was dragging him in for a kiss.  Tony leaned into it with a sigh feeling his muscles relaxing.  He’d missed Steve.  He was so far gone it wasn’t funny and he hadn’t seen it coming.  It was nice coming home to someone who missed him just as much even though that someone had brought home a bundle of energy in the form of a puppy.

Then the alarm was going off and it was time for the Avengers to assemble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Steve wanted a puppy...I couldn't say no to that face. Who could? I blame Chris Evans for this...I'd been debating about a puppy and then I stumbled upon that interview again. Needless to say I lost the battle and Steve got a puppy.
> 
> Hope to get a chapter of Taken Out of Context out this weekend...


	9. Tony Is No Longer a Fan of Bunnies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Some hints at PTSD, strong emotions etc...oh and some adult themes ;)

He could feel the cold seeping into his bones, crawling through his veins and wrapping around his mind.  There wasn’t a single place that was warm and the pain screaming in his chest was pushing him over the edge.  The lights were dim, the fire produced no warmth and his clothes still clung to his body from being shoved into the dirty water.

There was no doubt in his mind that he would die in this place; die alone and without anyone truly caring.  No hope of escape because his life was a ticking time bomb.  It was going to go off…he was going to die and it was unavoidable if he didn’t do something.  If he didn’t fight for it, but everything hurt and this was his entire fault.  Really.  The whole fucking thing was his fault.  Fear clawed at his mind, desperation chasing after it and then there was fire, gunshots, pain and death.  Complete hopelessness and resolve.  Prayers and hope.  The fucking desert heat beat down on him in the rudimentary iron man suit.  Then there was coldness and icy dirty water.  He’d escaped…why was he back in that cave?  Had he always been in that cave?  Had everything else been a dream created by his pain filled and desperate mind?  Was Steve simply a dream?  The Avengers something he’d created to save himself?

Tony came awake violently.  A scream tearing its way through his throat.  He couldn’t breathe…it was so cold and his chest hurt so badly.  Out.  He wanted out.  _Needed out_.  Where was he?  Brown eyes darted around the room as he worked to force his breathing back to a normal rate.  To drag himself back from that cave and to the movie room where he’d passed out on the floor.  Cooper sat off to the side staring at him even as one of those rapid breaths sounded closer to a sob.  The only light in the room came from the arc reactor and what Tony needed more than anything right now was bright light.  Warmth.  Safety.

“JARVIS?” his voice was broken, cracked and Tony tried to clear his throat.  “Lights on high.”

The room was flooded with light as Tony scrubbed a hand down his face.  Months dammit.  It had been months since one of those fucking nightmares.  _Memories_. His mind supplied helpfully and he fought back a snarl because really responding to yourself was a sure sign of insanity.  He really did not need to add that to his list of character defects.  It would only cause Fury to gloat.  He knew it.

Hands traveled up and moved through his hair mussing it up further as Cooper wandered closer to him.  A cold nose pressed against his side where the shirt had moved up in his sleep.  Tony allowed a hand to drop onto the puppy’s head as he struggled to regain his composure.  A quick glance to the right revealed the time at 4am on the dot.  Why was he awake this fucking early?  He’d not slept for a few days…working in the lab on his clean energy projects and with Peter on building a new engine because the teenager had indicated an interest.  There were only certain times he could come down to the workshop because of school and Tony missed having that unscheduled time Peter had over the summer.  He was working to balance it all and was apparently failing left, right and center.  Now he was alone on the main floor of the Avenger Tower, lying on the floor, broke out in a cold sweat and trying to breathe again.  To shove himself back into the present and far away from that dirty cave where he’d saved himself.  _Thanks to Yinsen_. Another helpful thought thrown at him from his own mind and he tried to fight the wince.  Hearing that name still filled him with guilt and a need to not waste his life.  To not waste the gift he’d been given.

The movie room floor had seemed just as great a place to pass out as any…at least no one had heard him screaming.  Hopefully.  His body shivered slightly as his mind continued to fight against those horrible memories.  Memories of blood, pain, tears, desperation, gun fire, death and being unmade so completely consumed his mind.

Tony slowly got to his feet as Cooper let out a slight whine drawing Tony’s eyes downward.  “Don’t want to be alone?” he asked softly before bending down to scoop the puppy up.  “I don’t blame you.” Slowly he made his way towards the elevator as JARVIS whisked him up a couple of floors face buried in the puppy’s scruff.  Padding down the hallway he hesitated at the door before glancing down at the puppy who had shifted slightly as he’d walked.  “Nothing wrong with this…” he murmured as his free hand closed over the doorknob and he pushed the door open carefully before shutting it behind him.

He crossed the room placing Cooper down at the end of the bed before pulling off his shirt and then his pants.  His night pants were tossed over a nearby chair; he reached for them and pulled them on.  Tony padded barefoot back over to the bed before pulling back the covers and crawling into the warmth.  It took only seconds before a pair of strong arms was pulling him into a warm chest, a pair of lips in his hair and a feeling of safety…of home swept through him and the feeling of relief nearly choked him.

His senses were filled with _Steve_ and Tony’s mind was rapidly pulled the rest of the way from those horrible memories.  Back into the present where he was safe, where he’d taken that horrible privilege and made it his own.  The rest of the tension in his body was leached away by Steve and Tony felt his eyes drooping closed once more.  Firmly locked into the knowledge that he was safe because Steve was Captain America and he wouldn’t let anything happen.  No more shrapnel, no more horrible dirty water…no more feeling of being completely unmade and lost.

“Mmmm.” Steve breathed against his hair as his arms wrapped around Tony just a little more.  “Love you.” It was what he needed and Tony was glad he’d gone to Steve’s floor instead of his own.

“Love you too.” He murmured back and dropped back into sleep.  Into a far more comforting darkness than before.  Steve’s arms secure around him, a steady thump of the soldier’s heart playing a comforting lullaby that drew him deeper into the sleep he so desperately needed.

*

Natasha felt her eyes roll back in her head.  Wow.  Lips were traveling up her neck and then were capturing her lips even as Bruce kept his steady pace.  She’d been used to fast encounters, wild nights and violent sex.  Bruce was so far from that…he took his time and drove her to the edge before dragging her back.  Nothing was the same and there were times she couldn’t even focus because he was torturing her in the most perfect ways.  Then there were the times he’d push her against the wall, lips hot on her body, lifting her up and filling her so completely.  Wall sex with Bruce was mind-blowingly perfect because he could just lose himself so completely in her and she’d see that passion he tried to curve.  In those moments he didn’t fear the Hulk because even though he was allowing himself to let go there was still that feeling of peace and rightness and love keeping him present.  Keeping the Hulk from showing.

Then she felt the light bite on her neck that dragged her back from thoughts of wall sex and back into slow, sensual love-making.  Into a pair of warm, amused eyes that stared back at her.  A grin stretched across her face as she tightened her legs around him arching up into Bruce just a little bit more.

A gasp escape when he responded and Natasha could feel that tight little coil inside building.  Knew the edge was getting that much closer and she wanted to throw herself into it.  To get lost once more because sometimes giving over that tightly fought and guarded control she possessed was the most rewarding experience.  Especially when Bruce would take the reins with a knowing smile and absolute care.

“ _Natasha_.” and his voice did such amazing things to her.  Her name always sounded like a prayer on his lips and it was mind-blowingly perfect.  That voice a shiver to go down her spine as she felt him pick up his pace.  Felt the edge nearing and could see she wasn’t the only one close.  Natasha reached up, grabbed onto Bruce and dragged him down into a kiss that she pushed as much emotion into as possible.

“Bruce.  _Oh_.” Natasha was quite sure she loved the softly spoken man with the wicked sense of humor and absolute loyalty.  The genius who got so lost in his experiments, so passionate about his interests that she felt so completely captivated by him.  And then her world was a haze of pleasure, moans, gasps and Bruce.  Everything about him filled her awareness and she relished it.  Lips hot on her body.  And then the stillness.

Soon he was dragging her into his arms, warmed skin pressed against warm skin under some of the softest sheets she’d ever slept on.  Her ear rested against his heart as it thumped a relaxing rhythm even as it slowed to a normal pace.  Everything was relaxed, calm and right.  A soft grin pulled at her lips as she snuggled closer tightening her body around him.  How could she have possibly feared him in the beginning?  And how had Tony known exactly what to say; exactly how to react to Bruce Banner? 

*

The city was full of them.  Seriously full of them.  There were dozens of them everywhere.  It was a fucking nightmare.  A true cotton tailed nightmare of epic proportions.

“I give up!  I give up!  Where the fuck are the _real_ villains?  Are they hiding under rocks?  Watching this on the news laughing their fucking asses off?” Iron Man dove down at the robotic rabbit that was the size of a horse.  Its eyes glowed a demonic red as a fucking laser shot out of its eyes.

An explosion rocked the ground as Hawkeye set about nocking another special made arrow courtesy of Tony Stark.  It exploded another rabbit upon impact.  “Don’t like bunny rabbits, Stark?” the grin could be heard over the comm as Iron Man snarled in response.

“Not anymore.” A beam shot at him narrowly missing him and hitting near the Hulk whose rage was quite audible.  “Don’t think my buddy does either!” Iron Man deployed several missiles that took out a cluster of them as Thor electrocuted about twenty of them blowing out more windows than Iron Man could count.

They’d been fighting these damn things for close to an hour. _An hour_.  The worst part was they already had the guy.  Coulson had found him.  Iron Man took a right and watched as Captain America smashed his shield into the neck of one of the rabbits he’d managed to get onto.  It crumpled to the ground.  He took in Captain America’s appearance, singed, sooty and cut but still going. Neither of them noticed the movement from the cluster of destroyed rabbits and when JARVIS noticed it was too late.

The lasers caught Captain America and dropped him.  His hand was hiding his side where blood was starting to show.  Tony hit the ground next to him after blasting the robot rabbit to pieces.  “Fuck.  Steve?  Are you ok?” his gloved hands tried to move to see it and Steve was trying to move away only to cry out in pain.  That’s when Tony noticed the tears in those blue eyes.  Steve was in real pain.  He’d been hurt.  Those fucking rabbits had _made Steve cry_.

Coulson’s voice was going over the comm giving the status of the others and informing Tony that he was on his way to get Captain America.  Tony stood there until Coulson had arrived because Agent would get Steve somewhere for that supersoldier healing to kick in.  But it was too late.  He’d already seen those tears, the naked pain and it took a lot to hurt Steve Rogers.

Rage climbed up his throat and choked him with the ferocity of it.  The Iron Man suit was in the air once more and he _destroyed_ every last one of those fucking robotic rabbits.  The new weapon he’d tested out in Malibu systematically zapped every last one of them.  Red eyes exploded, sparks danced in the air and then Iron Man reduced the remains to nothing.  Only one robotic rabbit head remained and that fucker was going to be seriously analyzed.

He landed near the jet where Coulson was waiting for the others who were slowly making their way there as the Iron Man suit was removed, stored safely away as Tony sat next to Steve who was protesting the need for Medical.  It would be funny if he still wasn’t in an obvious amount of excruciating pain.  Tony gave him a sharp glare that silenced further protests before grabbing onto his hand.  The other messing with some Starktech that Steve didn’t recognize before he looked up.

“You’re going to Medical.  You’re going to get fixed up and wrapped up.  If you need medicine you’re going to take it.  There will be no training, exercising, jogging or physical activity until you’re healed.  Period.”

Coulson looked away from them as the others began to climb aboard.  It looked like Steve was good for Tony in several different ways.

“Captain!  How are your wounds?” Thor’s voice boomed into the jet as Steve offered a small smile squeezing Tony’s hand.  Tension filled Tony’s body as the jet lifted off towards SHIELD.  Once he saw Steve safely into Medical to be checked out he left him with the Avengers as he began moving through SHIELD towards his destination.

“JARVIS.” Tony spoke quickly and smoothly as he moved through the hallways.

“Down the corridor on your left.  Fourth door.”

“Security?”

“Already breeched, Sir.”

“Thanks.”

Tony’s hand wrapped around the door handle before he was flinging the door open.  The man inside sprang to his feet with a loud protest.  “Hey!”

Murderous brown eyes locked onto the only other human in the room as he began moving forward, body coiling before springing forward to crash into the other.  Tony’s hands wrapped around the man’s throat as he pinned him down with his body.

All he could think was that this man…this disgusting human being caused _Steve to cry_.  Had made him bleed.  Had caused him pain.  Had hurt Steve.  There was so much rage and it was back; choking him and clouding his mind because _no one touched Steve_.  Someone like Steve Rogers should not cry.  It wasn’t right.  Tony could feel the other man grabbing at his hands, struggling to get out from under him, but Tony had rage and adrenaline on his side.  And the element of surprise.

He didn’t hear the voices, but Tony felt the hands trying to pull him from his target.  His hands came away from the man’s throat long enough to knock the grabbing hands away, to shove them and hit them so they’d leave him alone.  Then he was grabbing onto the other man and shaking him.

The words spilling from his lips were filled with anger and pain because he’d seen how severe the damage had been.  What if Steve had _died_?  This man could have taken Steve from him and Tony couldn’t live with that.  What would be the point?  If the world didn’t have someone like Steve Rogers in it then what would be the fucking point anymore?

Another set of arms closed around him and removed him from the gasping man with little trouble.  Tony fought like a man possessed to get back to the other who had rolled over onto his side, choking and coughing as he struggled for breath.

“ _Let me go!  I’m going to kill him_.” Tony’s arms flailed and his whole body fought against the restraint.  He could see Clint standing near the doorway with Natasha.  Both had blank expressions on their faces, but had made no move to restrain Tony or remove him.

“Calm yourself Tony.” Thor’s usually booming voice was muted as he held onto his friend so as to restrain him, but not harm him.  “The good Captain is fine.”

“He could have killed him!  You think I’m going to stand for that?” Tony was breathing heavily even as his body slowed down its violent movements; Thor pulled him from the room even as Tony still tried to get away.  Tried to get back to that man who had almost taken one of the most important people in his life away from him.  JARVIS continued to monitor his creator as the god of thunder carted him through SHIELD.  The AI made the decision to block and distort the feed in SHIELD.  JARVIS doubted Tony would want record of this or someone watching him.

Thor dragged him into another room and hugged the smaller man close.  He could feel Tony’s body shaking and knew the other was terrified deep down.  That his friend would rather tap into anger than to allow that terror to surface.  “It will be ok.” He rumbled carefully as Tony completely sagged against him allowing Thor to keep him restrained.

“I can’t live without him.” He muttered as his arms hung limply.  “A fucking rabbit bot almost got him because I wasn’t paying attention.” Tony could feel his breathing returning to normal even as a sob wanted to force its way to the surface, “I’m like the kiss of death…all these people die around me.”

The god of thunder looked down at Tony as he felt the fight finally leave his friend completely.  “You take too much on yourself.  Steve will recover from our battle and our foe will be punished.” Carefully he removed his arms from Tony who swayed slightly at the lack of support before regaining his feet.

Tony scowled looking off to the side, “Won’t be punished enough.” He shoved the emotions down into the darkest corner in his soul and put on his famous Stark mask that saved him from the public.  Couldn’t let them see how close he was to breaking…how close he’d come to completely snapping.  Though that man in the other room might argue that Tony had crossed the line completely.

“Come.  Let us collect the others before returning to our home.” Thor’s heavy hand settled onto Tony’s shoulder as he guided the other man down the hallway.  SHIELD agents stepped out of Tony Stark’s path quite rapidly, hesitation and a slight nervousness in their movements.  Had he been in a better state of mind Tony might have found humor from the whole situation especially since the agents were treating him as though he was Natasha.  The agents were quite weary of her for good reason.

Then Maria Hill was stepping in front of them.  Her blue eyes swept over both of them before settling back onto Tony.  “There was a breach in security shortly before you entered one of our containment cells.”

Tony looked into her eyes without even blinking, “I had not heard about that.” His expression was blank, devoid of the emotion it had been so freely showing before.

“Ok.” She blinked once before stepping out of his way, “The upgrades have been working quite nicely.” She offered with a slight grin that quickly fell away from her face as she moved around them down the hallway.

“Yep.  Favorite agent.” Tony murmured to himself before they continued down the hallway.  He walked into the Medical room he’d left Steve in to find the supersoldier bandaged and wrapped up.  Steve was putting on a shirt; his movements were slower than normal.  Rage simmered beneath the surface. 

Tony stood there for a second in the doorway, not paying attention to any of his teammates, before moving into the room.  He was two steps away from Steve when those blue eyes were suddenly looking at him.

“Tony.” He could hear it in the supersoldier’s voice.  Steve knew and then he dropped it, “Can we go home?” it was far better than Tony thought as he had been quite sure Steve would say something about him attacking that asshole.

Natasha and Clint shared a look before looking back.  “Honestly.” She muttered shaking her head before heading towards the exit.  “Come on boys.” She called over her shoulder.

*

Tony stared at the fabric he’d designed to replace Steve’s old suit.  Clearly it needed to be made of something stronger and he could design anything.  Absolutely anything.  There was no way Steve was running around in that spangly tight as hell suit that protected him from _nothing,_ obviously.  The current fabric he was examining had taken several days of synthesizing and testing before he’d found it worthy.  It helped that he had been able to test it against the same laser that had hit Steve.

So far he had shot it, burned it, blasted it, stabbed it, thrown acid on it and shot just about everything he could think of on that fucking suit.  He’d added a backup layer under the outside on the off chance that Steve needed extra protection.  If this worked out, could be fitted into a suit then he could use it for Natasha and Clint because he doubted their suits could withstand more attacks from robotic rabbits.  Bruce already had pants that would move to fit the Hulk.  That had taken Tony a little while, but for that project he had actually slept at times.  This time he took a few coffee breaks and showers.

Peter stared at Tony, at the dark bags under his eyes and wild hair; took in the coffee cups everywhere, scorch marks and several different types of fabrics.  “Dad?” his voice echoed slightly into the workshop as he held onto the plate of sandwiches.  “You need to eat something.” he muttered walking over to Tony who was mumbling to himself.

The hand on Tony’s shoulder drew the genius back to his workshop and from the scene of Steve in pain.  “What?” he blinked and looked up at Peter.  His vision swam slightly and he put a hand to his head closing his eyes once more.  “Ow.” It was muttered.

“Maybe a shower and sleep would be a better idea.” Peter sighed before placing the plate down and pulling Tony to an upright position.  He began pulling Tony towards the stairs subtly using his new strength to help him move towards the next floor.  “Alright.  We’re at the stairs.”

They made it to the top before Tony grabbed onto Peter, “Be safe.” He stared at the teenager.  “I’m not going to lose you.”

Peter felt the familiar warmth of knowing he was loved and the guilt at the knowledge that Tony didn’t know about Spider-Man bubble up.  But he had put the mask away until it was honestly needed again.  The Avengers were doing a great job without him.  And being a teenager wasn’t too bad; he could still help when he saw the chance.

“I will.” He grinned softly, “Come on.” Peter maneuvered Tony towards the elevator, caught the concerned look on Steve’s face as he moved past the kitchen.  Once he got Tony to his room he watched as Tony fell onto the bed face first.

Soft snores filled the room along with the steady rise and fall as Tony breathed shortly after he’d made it to his bed.  Peter pulled Tony’s shoes off and threw a cover over him.  Shaking his head he closed the door behind him and headed towards his own room.

*

Tony woke to warmth and safety and Steve.  Closing his eyes he burrowed closer and released a sigh.  The strain and the clouds in his mind had faded away.  He could feel the stress and tension from working nonstop with little to no sleep vanish.  That material would work because he made it, tested it and _needed_ it to work.

He breathed in the smell of Steve Rogers and wrapped his arms around him tighter as he listened to the steady thump of Steve’s heart.  It was steady, strong and consistent.  Then strong arms pulled him even closer so that his cheek was pressed even more into Steve.

“Morning.” It was sleep fogged and rough.  The tone sent a slight shiver down Tony’s spine as he tangled their legs together by moving closer.

“Mmmm.” Tony mumbled as his eyes stubbornly closed as he tried to drop back off into sleep because part of his body still wanted that blissful unawareness.

Lips were pressed to his hair, “Can you not lock yourself up in the workshop like that again?  Do you have any idea how bad that is for your health?”

“Mmmhmm.” Tony wasn’t even going to try to verbalize anything because he had a pretty good idea how horrible he would sound.  That would cause overprotective Steve to make an appearance even though it sounded like he might be knocking on the door at the moment.

“Please don’t do that again.” Tony knew if he were to look at Steve’s face there would be a pair of big blue eyes staring at him with that look.  That horrible look that you couldn’t say no to.  The look that he used to subtly guilt you into agreeing with him.  If Steve ever became evil he could make an honest attempt at world domination.  Tony knew he would be hard pressed to oppose someone with that face and voice.  Why would you even want to?  Plus he would have no problem being the partner of the man who had managed to take over the world.

Now Tony’s mind was drifting off into a fantasy he didn’t even know he had…yep…it was a very interesting place and Tony wanted to just stay there for a while.

“Tony?” there was that questioning note and Tony dragged himself back to reality quite reluctantly.

“Steve.”

“Where were you?”

“Somewhere very fascinating.” He grinned and finally looked at Steve.  “Have you ever thought of world domination?”


	10. The Right Partner

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Slash and M/F scene. Nothing explicit. My ff.net account has the edited version.

“Take that!” Tony crowed as his whole body moved violently to the right before jerking back to the left.  Hair wild his grip tightened even as his eyes lit with glee.  Steve’s eyes were narrowed as he drove right into the spinning spears.  A blue shell came up and the smug air could be felt from the couch where the others were watching the violent competition.  Cooper sat between the two groups; eyes drooped in exhaustion while Zeus slept on his back.

Without remorse Steve used the blue shell and Lugi was blasted into the air.  “Spoke to soon.” His blue eyes were alight with self-satisfaction.

“Fuck!  I was winning you loser.” Tony’s tongue peeked out of the corner of his mouth as his character was set back on the track and he gunned it.  Yoshi was far in the lead as Steve turned his remote and wrecked another car in his path.  The normally polite Captain America was gone and in his place was Steve Rogers who was _not_ above dirty driving.

The look of concentration did not leave Steve’s face as another character slammed into his car before he jerked back sideways into theirs causing Peach to head off the nearest cliff.  “You’re not winning until you cross the line.”

Peter closed his eyes and shook his head while Thor grinned from beside him.  “Tony and Steve are fierce warriors.  Both on and off the battlefield.”  A sigh escaped the teen before he grinned slightly at Thor.

“I’ve noticed.”

Then there was sudden movement; both Steve and Tony had gotten to their feet moving the remotes futilely as they raced towards the finish line as though moving their bodies would increase their chances for victory.  It wouldn’t.  Tony’s character was passing Yoshi right when Steve turned the car right into the back of Lugi’s spinning him out.  Yoshi flew across the finish line as Lugi righted himself to grab second.

“I WON!” Steve was beaming as he pumped his fist into the air while Tony scowled over at him.  His arms crossed as his face pulled into a pout.

“Cheater.” He muttered even as the supersoldier pulled him close and kissed him.  It was hard to complain when every time Steve won he felt the need to kiss him.  It was like he was rewarding Tony for losing.  So not fair.

“All is far in Mario Kart.” There was totally smugness in every single word of that sentence.  Tony wondered if he was a bad influence or if there was someone else to blame for corrupting America’s golden boy.

“Congratulations on a battle well fought.” Thor was grinning, “Now it is my turn to battle young Peter.”

Tony raised an eyebrow before turning to Peter, “You need to avenge my loss.  Kick his ass.”

Steve stared over at Tony in vague horror.  “Don’t encourage that!”

Thor was grinning widely, “More of a challenge.” Peter stood up from his spot and took Tony’s control as Thor relieved Steve of his. Tony was noticeably pouting once more as he stared at the screen that showed Steve’s character doing a victory lap.  But he caught the grin on Steve’s face and allowed one to pull at his lips as well.

“I’ll avenge you, Dad.” Peter flashed a grin before turning to the screen.

Tony let the supersoldier pull him down onto the couch, into his side, as new characters were selected on the screen.  Tried not to let the feeling rising up in his chest choke him because this was perfect.  Everything was going so well and wasn’t that when everything fell apart?  When something went terribly wrong?  He shoved that dark thought to the side and leaned further back into the warmth.

Bruce was grinning and Natasha was using him as a pillow while Clint sat on the arm of a nearby chair grinning at the screen where Peter and Thor were now racing.  He closed his eyes and just listened.  To the laughs, sighs, taunts, threats and exclamations.  To the sounds of a family.  Something he had never known he needed.  Something he wasn’t sure he could live without.  It had become such a central part of his life and Tony was not one to give up something that he _needed_.

“Sleepy?” Steve’s voice came from his right, quiet and inquiring.  He could feel a warm hand moving through his hair and slowly opened up one eye to regard Steve.

“Just relaxing.  Big night tomorrow.”

A groan escaped Steve’s lips, “That benefit, right?” Steve was one of the most polite and duty-bound people Tony had ever met.  But the man _hated_ going to public events where he was essentially shown off.  Tony figured they reminded him of his days selling war bonds.  Part of him wanted to make a comment about how Steve’s dancing girls had vaguely inspired his own at the Stark Expo, but had decided to not say anything.  _For now_.  Mostly he tried not to mention anything about his playboy past and instead focus on actually forming a healthy relationship with Steve Rogers.  Seemed the better option.  Plus Tony had not seen any negatives to their relationship so why introduce something negative into that mix.

“Yeah.  Apparently we need good PR.  Clint really shouldn’t have flipped off that reporter or followed that up with those comments.” Tony forced himself not to smirk because Clint had only voiced what he’d been thinking.  And truth be told that man totally deserved it.  Making comments about him perverting a national icon.  Well fuck him.  Steve made the first move and this was one of the first real things Tony had when it came to an actual relationship.  Sometimes Tony thought Clint might be his favorite Avenger; Steve didn’t count anymore since Steve was sleeping with him.  He jumped between his various teammates.  It was a toss-up at times.  Screw it.  They were all his favorite.  Fuck just having one.  Who could pick?

Steve didn’t agree with Tony’s statement either.  He’d been a step away from punching that jerk in the face.  Making comments about Tony, especially negative ones, did not sit well with him.  It also encouraged the rather protective and slightly possessive side of himself that he’d recently discovered since Tony had first returned his kisses.  Steve would not sit by and let someone he loved be hurt in any sense of the word.

“Sure.” He murmured as Peter started dancing around the room in what Steve recognized as his victory dance.  Thor was grinning good naturedly before pulling Peter in for a side hug.

“Well fought.” The god boomed with a grin before turning to them, Steve shook his head and Thor returned to challenging Peter to another race.  Steve watched Thor carefully.  At times he’d notice sadness in his eyes and figured it had something to do with Thor’s own losses.  The loss of his relationship with his brother.  He’d noticed that Thor had started to bond with Peter.  Part of him was quite curious about it.  The other part hoped it helped Thor overcome whatever was troubling him.

Tony shifted slightly before pulling away, “I’m going to the workshop.  Need to get some work in before tomorrow.” Steve wanted to reach out and pull Tony back down, but he knew the other man was working on a project for Stark Industries as well as his energy projects.  That Tony had pulled back from long hours in the workshop because Steve or Peter were more than happy to drag his ass upstairs.  It didn’t stop Tony from holing up in the workshop whenever he could, not taking care of himself and drinking insane amounts of coffee.  Lately Tony had been increasing the hours he’d spend down there and Steve suspected that Tony might be sneaking in hours he wasn’t aware of.  The dark circles forming under Tony’s eye were a slight indication.

Clint turned his head slightly as Tony quietly moved from the room before he glanced over at Steve who was watching Tony leave.  A sigh escaped his lips before his sharp eyes swept over the room taking in everyone present.  Phil was stuck at SHIELD HQ with Fury and Hill.  Clint hadn’t bothered to press for details.  Figured it had something to do with his stunt he’d pulled.

His eyes narrowed slightly thinking back to that arrogant and disdainful reporter who had essentially been taunting Tony from afar.  He knew how worried Tony had been about starting a relationship with Steve Rogers.  How Tony had been concerned with his first relationship with a male and one that was a best friend of his.  It caused anger to surge through his veins just thinking about how some people couldn’t let you love who you loved.  They had to pick at it, condemn it and work to destroy whatever happiness they could find.  Clint had seen how Tony’s eyes had flashed with that uncertainty and a hint of fear before the genius had killed the emotions as rapidly as he could.  Didn’t stop the muscle from jumping in his jaw or the tensing of the shoulders.  Hadn’t stopped the pain those words had caused.

Fury had been absolutely livid.  Clint had stood in his office, taken the dressing down, the shouting and the threats with a blank face before he’d looked the Director of SHIELD in the eye with his response, “Fuck them.  I’d do the exact same thing…possibly have shot that asshole with an arrow.  I’m still trying to decide if I shouldn’t go figure out where he lives.”

The vein had throbbed in Fury’s forehead and Clint couldn’t remember seeing Fury that pissed off before.  Except maybe a few times that Tony Stark was involved, but this incident technically involved Stark so the whole thing was moot anyway.

Movement out of the corner of his eye snapped his attention back to the movie room as Natasha dragged Bruce from the room with a grin.  Clint felt affection wash over him in waves as he saw the genuine happiness on his partner’s face.  Natasha deserved happiness and someone who loved her.  He could see it in Bruce’s eyes, the way the other man watched her and how the Hulk protected her in the field.

*

Once they were in the elevator Natasha pushed Bruce back against the wall as her lips trailed down his neck.  She could feel his hands moving across her body, teasing her and grinned looking up at him.  “Ever experienced elevator sex?” she asked with a wicked look.

Bruce’s eyes locked with hers, “JARVIS?  Lock the doors and turn off any recordings.” His voice was slightly husky as he reversed their positions.  “Elevator sex sounds like a great idea.”

A laugh escaped as Natasha felt Bruce’s body press further into hers.  The heat coming off his body a comfort and turn on at the same time.  She could feel his sure hands moving up her sides before trailing back down to her pants.  Bruce made quick work of them as her own hands began working on his.  Pants pooled to the ground as Bruce stepped back to kick his to the side while Natasha stepped out of hers just in time to be pushed back into the wall.  Warmth curled inside her body as Bruce’s lips found hers.  It was a welcome feeling.

Hands moved to her hips as her back slid up the wall, hands moving to wrap around Bruce, a blur of pleasure and lips as Bruce thrust forward.  A gasp escaped “Woah.  Skipping the usual foreplay?” she chuckled wrapping her legs around his hips.

“We can get to foreplay later.” His eyes twinkled at her in humor before he began to move, her body arched and Natasha moved to meet his pace. 

“Mmmm.  Promises promises.  You better be planning—ah—to keep them.” There were times when Natasha wondered why they’d danced around this for so long because Bruce just fit.  He just fit her so perfectly. Lips, wandering hands, whispers and moans were the only things consuming Natasha’s mind as she met the pace Bruce had set.  Gave over to him as she tightened her legs around him.  Another moan fell from her lips.

“I intend to.”

Her back was pressed against the cool wall and the warmth that was Bruce pressed into her from the front.  It was a beautiful contrast.  She felt it…so close to the edge and she wanted to drag Bruce with her.  Pull him into the free-fall and then drag him to her bedroom for a more thorough exploration of each other’s bodies.  She could feel that Bruce was close, feel it building up inside her and allowed herself to be swept up in the pleasure.  Felt Bruce lose himself.

Natasha loosened her grip on his hips, but kept them attached as she leaned forward to kiss Bruce softly on the lips.  “I think I might love you.” She said softly as Bruce’s eyes lit up with genuine happiness at her words.  “I’ve tried to keep my heart safe, but I think it might be safer with you.”

*

Three in the morning saw Steve walking down the stairs to the workshop to find Tony sleeping with one hand curled around a repulsor glove.  Dummy stood guard over his creator.  His arm moved so that the camera could register Steve entering at a steady pace as he moved towards Tony.  A soft smile took over his features.  He’d had a feeling that Tony had not been staying in bed all night lately; that he had been sneaking off to the workshop before coming back to bed right before Steve woke for the day.  Seeing Tony in the state that he was only further solidified that thought.

Carefully he removed Tony’s hand from the Iron Man glove before setting it down on the workstation.  Tony’s hair was sticking up and he’d stripped down to a tank top.  That feeling of fondness and love rushed up to fill his entire being.  Steve could live off that feeling.  He moved to cradle Tony in his arms before straightening.  A mumble escaped Tony’s lips before he burrowed into the warmth of Steve’s chest.  All movement stopped once he’d settled and Steve felt him go lax with sleep.

“What am I going to do with you?” he murmured softly before moving in the direction of the stairs and his bedroom.  “Thanks for watching him, Dummy.” The bot whirred before moving to his charging station.  JARVIS remained silent as he opened doors and lit the way for Steve.

When they finally reached their destination Steve carefully removed Tony’s shoes and the dirty clothes he was wearing.  Tony turned, muttering under his breath into one of the pillows nearest to his searching arms.  A sigh escaped as he buried his face into the pillow as Steve pulled the covers over him before getting into his side of the bed.  He reached out to wrap arms around Tony and pull him into his arms breathing in softly.  Safely away from the edge.  Finally Steve could go to sleep instead of worrying about Tony.

Steve came alert slowly as he felt each muscle waken as he became aware of the comforting weight of Tony draped across him.  Legs tangled, arms hugging onto him as though he was a giant teddy bear and dark hair wild from both hands as well as sleep composed the image of Tony Stark first thing in the morning.  He’d worried at first that Tony might consider him clingy for wanting to cuddle or snuggle in bed, but Steve had discovered that Tony _loved_ cuddling in bed.  Tony would wrap himself so thoroughly around Steve that the other man often wondered if the genius was part octopus or something equally grabby.  Warmth spilled across the sheets of the bed from the windows which allowed sunlight into the room.  Content.

Had he ever been this content before in his life?  Tony’s arms wrapped tighter around him, face nuzzling against Steve’s chest as his ear pressed into the place above the supersoldier’s heart.  Steve knew it to be a steady beat and that nothing put Tony to sleep quicker than when he was listening to Steve’s heartbeat.  Idly he ran his fingers through the brown hair, felt a shudder run through Tony’s body and grinned.  He continued to move his fingers through Tony’s hair, relaxing into the pillows and completely unwilling to move.  If this was the only way to honestly insure that Tony was getting sleep then he would lie in bed for hours being used as a teddy bear.

Another mumble escaped as Tony pressed himself even closer into Steve tangling their legs up further as his beard brushed against Steve’s bare skin.  _I’m going to marry him_.  The thought flew across Steve’s mind without prompting.  He didn’t even bother to deny it or think of any doubts.  It wouldn’t be today or even a few months from now.  But he was in this for long term.  Steve wanted to be married to Tony Stark.  Wanted to look at Tony’s left hand and see his ring there.  Wanted more than words to see a ring on Tony’s finger and a matching one on his own.

He’d looked it up when he was discovering everything he could about the time he’d woken up in.  Legally he could marry Tony Stark.  Steve could have this amazingly complicated and self-sacrificing man who had a heart bigger than he knew as his husband.

Steve allowed himself to lie there in bed acting as Tony’s pillow, hands occasionally carding through his hair and listening to the occasional mumbles and soft breathing.  To the hum of the arc reactor.  He stayed in bed for a couple more hours, allowing his mind to drift and just basked in such a relaxing moment.  Then he was rolling them and pinning Tony down to the mattress.  Trailing lips over the expanse of bare skin.  Tony came awake slowly, carefully as he stretched like a cat.  That was often what Tony would remind Steve of.  A big cat.  Sleepy brown eyes blinked open and met his.

Realization lit them up and a slow, easy smile spread across Tony’s face as he moved to grab onto Steve to pull him down into a kiss of his own initiation, but Steve easily captured those wrists before pinning them above Tony’s head.  He shifted his hands until both wrists were enclosed in one hand.  When he locked eyes with Tony he could see those pupils blown widen and glazed.  At first he was worried that Tony might be freaked out until when he shifted he felt evidence that Tony was anything but scared.

“ _Steve.”_ Tony gasped and Steve felt his own interest pique further.  He was exerting very little strength to keep the smaller man pinned down before he allowed his lips to capture Tony’s in a deep kiss.  Tony tried pushing his body upwards into Steve’s only for the supersoldier to pin him down pressing the length of his body into Tony’s which elicited a groan.  “Uhh…why are you teasing me this early in the morning?” it was a gasped whine which Tony wondered how that was even possible.

“Am I?” there was something wicked in the fact that Steve could sound so deliciously innocent, but have such a hungry gleam in his eyes.  Tony whimpered slightly when Steve removed his lips.  “I can stop.”

“Stop and you will never see your precious shield ever again.”

An eyebrow rose, “Really?  You’d take my shield from me?  Something that I hold dear?” those big blue eyes were disturbingly puppy like.  Tony glanced away.

“No.” it was muttered, “Now why are we still wearing clothes?”

Steve didn’t bother answering as he began to make quick work of what few articles of clothing they were wearing.  He moved to his side of the bed, reached into the table and pulled out a tube before moving back to Tony.  The blue of the arc reactor stared back at him.  Carefully he leaned down and kissed the life-saving light.  He loved that blue circle of light because it kept Tony alive.  Gave the other man another chance.  Tony blinked at him in shock though there was a questioning glint in his eyes.

“What was that for?” he couldn’t not ask.  There was no way Tony Stark was not asking about that.

It was easy, something he didn’t even think about and why shouldn’t he kiss something that gave him the incredible man lying in his bed?   “I wanted to.” Tony continued to stare at him.

“I never know what you’re thinking.” He sounded somewhat petulant though a small smile settled onto his handsome features.  “You have me where you want me…what do you plan on doing now?” Tony was able to jump from so many different thoughts without any noticeable indication of why or when.  Sometimes it was dizzying.

Steve locked eyes with Tony as his hand moved towards its destination, he watched as those brown eyes widened at the intrusion, glazed over when he moved his hand just so and then the way Tony didn’t bother hiding his reactions.  He was so busy watching Tony’s expression that he gasped in surprise at the hand closing around over him.  Talented fingers encouraged a moan to escape from his lips.

The hand moved away the same time Steve moved his own before lining up and then thrusting forward.  As always he marveled at Tony’s reaction, the sounds and how those hands grabbed onto him.  Fingers digging in even as he moved to meet Steve’s pace.  It was impossible to keep his hands off of Tony and Steve stopped trying.  Before he thought about it he was repeating the same position he’d held before.  Pinning Tony’s hands above his head into the mattress, taking the control that Tony was all too happy to give over and the physical reaction was even more noticeable now.

Moans and gasps and whimpers spilled from Tony’s lips as very similar sounds escaped Steve.  “Oh.  There.” Another moan.  “Faster.  Yeah.  Steve…mmm…ah… _Ste—Steve.”_

The supersoldier moved back to Tony’s neck, marking him up before moving to claim those lips and allowing his body to cover Tony’s.  A hand slipped between them closing over Tony and slowly, teasingly stroking him.  Tony’s toes curled as he arched up wanting more of that gifted hand on him.

Nips, kisses, gasps, teasing and moans filled that late morning.  Steve watched as Tony completely lost it, body riding through the pleasure and satisfaction before he allowed himself to lose control.  Watching Tony come undone was his favorite part.  The expression, the sounds…the whole picture was perfect.

Laying there, catching their breath Steve finally glanced at the clock.  Shower.  Food.  So many things to do before that horrible benefit thing tonight.  All he wanted to do was stay in bed with Tony.  Who needed good PR?  Honestly that reporter had it coming.

But duty dragged Steve from the bed, from the warmth of the sheets and Tony’s body.  “Come on.  Let’s grab a shower and some food.”

Tony grabbed the nearest pillow and flung it at Steve’s head.  “You can’t do these things to me!  I don’t want to…”

“If you’re good I’ll reward both of us.”

Brown eyes stared at him suspiciously before Tony swung his legs over the side of the bed and began to slowly stride across the room towards the shower.  It was obvious Tony did not mind nudity as he moved past Steve.  “Well?”

With a slight smirk Steve shook his head before following Tony’s lead.

*

Natasha took a small drink from her glass as her eyes scanned the room.  “Do you think someone would be upset if I stabbed that guy over there?  You know…the sexist asshole who kept staring at my chest earlier?”

Tony glanced in the direction she had indicated.  “Him?  I’ll distract everyone.  Do you need a weapon or something?”

A grin lit up Natasha’s features, “I knew I liked you for a reason.”

“Only like?  No love?  I thought ours was a love found only once in a lifetime!” his hand clasped over his heart, eyes dramatically wide as he leaned heavily back in his seat as though physically in pain.  “Tasha…you’ve killed me!  This is the end!”

“Stark.  If you’re going to cause a distraction you should do it far away from me otherwise there is no point of a distraction.” But she was laughing, the tension in her shoulders having lessoned greatly.  “Besides.  Shouldn’t you be with Steve?”

“Where is Bruce?” Tony challenged.

It was true.  Bruce was over in a cluster of people with Clint who looked bored out of his mind as well.  “With his fellow scientists.” She sighed.  “They grabbed Bruce before I had a chance to save him.”

“Come on.  They’re lab rats.  They scare easily.  Just give them that look.  You know the one.” He smirked and took a drink of his scotch.  “Why were you never this nice when you worked undercover at Stark Industries?”

She ignored the last question, “What about our lovely Captain?  You’ve left him to the vultures.”

Tony glanced in Steve’s direction where he was surrounded by a bunch of women who were all clearly trying far too hard to get his attention.  Steve looked absolutely mortified.  “I’m going to give him ten more minutes to escape.  If he does not succeed I’ll swoop in to save the day.”

“You’re evil.” She stood and indicated for Tony to do the same.  “Come on.  We need more alcohol.”

The Iron Avenger drained his glass and rose to his feet holding out his arm.  “Shall we?”

“We shall.” Her eyes sparkled as she looped her arm with Tony’s.  A few nearby gossips began talking rapidly amongst themselves.  Several sets of eyes followed them including Steve’s who wanted to shake his head.  Tony did not need more alcohol.  Honestly. 

“So what do you think Thor and Peter are getting up to back home?” Natasha kept pace with Tony as they moved through the crowd towards the huge bar.  That was Tony’s favorite type of bar.  Well he kind of liked just about any kind of bar.

“Probably destroying something.  Who knows?” Tony shrugged.  He could repair whatever it was, plus JARVIS would let him know if something went wrong and all the sensitive areas were monitored by his AI so Tony figured everything was safe.  He hoped.

A soft snort escaped Natasha, “You’ve got some admirers.” She smirked slightly, “And several seem to enjoy the view.”

“I can’t blame them.  I’m quite handsome.” He grinned widely as the bartender walked towards them.  “Scotch.”

“Make that two.” Natasha spoke up.

“You don’t drink scotch.”

“I can hold my alcohol, Stark.  I drink whatever I chose.” The bartender set both glasses down as Tony stuffed a tip into the bowl before leading Natasha back to their table.

Glancing around as they set back down Tony slipped his free hand into his pocket to retrieve his phone.  A few buttons and the sound of his AI filtered out.  “How are things at home, JARVIS?”

“Peter and Thor have moved into the kitchen for dinner.  So far a bag of flour has become the first casualty in their ‘quest’ for sustenance.”

Tony snickered, “Thanks, J.  Keep an eye on them.”

“Always, Sir.”

The device slipped back into his pocket as Tony took a drink.  Steve was heading in their direction, a determined look on his handsome features.  Warmth pooled in Tony’s stomach.  Who knew he had a kink for a dominate partner?  Tony had no problem discovering and exploring kinks.  It was one of his favorite pastimes.

“Would you like to dance?”

Well.  Tony had not expected that.  He blinked in surprise.  He had never seen Steve dance and when they went to these things in the past Steve had more than enough dance offers.  Steve never took anyone up on them.

“Dance?” Tony wasn’t sure if he had felt more lost, but he allowed Steve to pull him to his feet.  To lead him over to where couples were dancing to something that Tony did not recognize.

He felt Steve position his hands, move close and then the supersoldier was leading Tony in a slightly familiar dance.  A truly happy grin was present on Steve’s features and Tony found himself grinning back as he allowed Steve to lead them around the dance floor.  There were a few noticeable flashes, but Tony didn’t care.  That expression made it worth it.  Made coming to this stupid benefit for PR worth it.

His eyes caught sight of a very familiar reporter who was staring at him with an unreadable expression.  She caught him staring and cocked an eyebrow.  Tony smirked and turned his gaze back to Steve.  “I didn’t know you danced.” He commented idly.

“I don’t.”

Tony furrowed his eyebrow, “Ok.  You have lost me.  That just…doesn’t work.  You don’t dance but you asked me to dance and now we’re dancing around the floor like you’ve been dancing your entire life—” the fond expression on Steve’s face caused Tony’s jaw to snap shut.  “What?” it was slightly defensive though not hostile.

“This is my first dance.”

“Your first dance?  Why?  What were you waiting for?  Didn’t others ask you?”

A wistful expression took over Steve’s features, “I was waiting for the right partner.”

And there was something very important about that comment.  Something Tony couldn’t place, but wished he could.  There was something behind that.  Something that went with the whole never dancing before and yet being so serene about it.  Tony resolved to find out what that something was in the future.  For now he’d focus elsewhere.

“Then how are you doing so well?”

Pink tinted Steve’s cheeks now, “I studied it.  JARVIS helped.”

Suddenly Tony had the most adorable image in his head of Steve asking JARVIS about dancing, cheeks pink with embarrassment as he taught himself how to dance with JARVIS helping.  It was so very perfect and so very Steve that Tony found himself moving to kiss the other man.  “Recently I have discovered a very interesting fantasy that involves you wearing the Captain America uniform.  We should seriously consider it.” it was completely out of left field and Steve had no idea what had brought that up.

A startled laugh escaped Steve as his eyes sparkled with humor, the embarrassment faded from his features and Tony mentally applauded himself for the distraction.  Though he honestly had a Captain America fantasy that had come to him quite recently.  “Then again…I kind of have one that involves your military dress uniform as well…”

Steve turned them once more as he continued to lead as the music changed slightly into a different song, but a similar pacing.  “What am I going to do with you?”

“Something naughty I hope.”

*

Peter glanced around the kitchen at the flour, broken eggs and something that looked like chili powder…but couldn’t be because he didn’t even know where chili powder was in the huge kitchen.  Thor was looking around at the destruction.  It was hard for Peter not to laugh because the god of thunder was covered in flour.  When he moved puffs of white flour escaped into the air and then Thor sneezed.  A huge cloud of flour filled the space and Peter lost it.  Laughing helplessly even as he called for JARVIS to place a pizza order for them.

Thor was grinning as he tried patting himself down and instead left huge Thor sized handprints everywhere.  “Showers.  Then food.” Peter declared.

“Aye.  A worthy plan.”

It was one of the fastest showers he’d taken, but Peter threw himself onto the couch and stretched out.  He was far too old for someone to watch him, but having someone at the Tower while the others were trying to gain good PR was better for him.  Less lonely.  Plus Thor had not been present for that latest debacle so he didn’t deserve to be _punished_.

Just as Thor was coming into the room JARVIS alerted Peter to the arrival of the food.  The teenager walked to the elevator with Thor following so they could meet the delivery driver down in the lobby.  Peter crossed the floor to the pizza delivery boy who was staring around the place with a look of awe.

“Hello!” Thor boomed with a grin as he approached.  The guy startled before staring at Thor.  “Is that ours?”

Peter stepped forward, paid the guy as Thor collected the boxes.  They rode the elevator up as Thor munched on a piece of pizza.

It was almost an hour later before Peter couldn’t help himself.  “Loki is your brother, right?”

A startled look crossed Thor’s features before he nodded.  “Yes.  Loki is my brother.  We grew up together.”

“He was adopted?  Like me?”

Thor stared at him in consideration, “Yes.  He was adopted.  Though I was unaware of this until the incidents on both Earth and Asgard.  It has never mattered to me.  Loki has always been my brother, will always be my brother.  Our relationship may be strained, but I still love him.” Now the god of thunder looked off out the window.  “He has been deeply hurt.  Feels as though he has personally been injured.  Time.  He just needs some time.  Needs to realize he is still welcome on Asgard.  That he is still part of our family.  I have hope that he will give me a chance again.  Being around mother is good for him.”

Peter nodded, “I’m sure he will.  Sometimes something hurts so much that it knocks you down and it takes forever to get back to your feet.  From what I have heard he hasn’t honestly hurt anyone since the Avengers were first formed.  Maybe he is getting better?”

“No.  He has not injured anyone lately.  Though he did turn Tony into a child.”

“I know.  That’s how I met him.”

Thor stared at Peter before shaking his head, “While we were on Asgard.  Loki turned Tony into a child to make a point of some sort.”

Now Peter was staring at Thor, “Seriously?  He turned him into a child _twice_?”

“Yes.  Tony at times reminds me of the best of my brother.  The intelligence and sharp tongue.  There is also a self-hatred there that both of them seem to possess.  Loki has his good moments and his bad just like others.  I once had a focus on war and violence.  Thanks to Jane and my father I have realized my folly.”

“That was…deep.” Peter took a drink before turning all of his attention back to Thor.  “Is that why he doesn’t really like Dad?”

“Possibly.  Though it might be due to the fact that he was not able to corrupt Tony during the battle.  That cost him.”

“Hmm.  Makes sense.  Do you have any stories from when you were a child?  You and Loki?” Peter asked watching as Thor’s face lit up.

“I have many.” Enthusiasm caused Thor’s whole personality to shine.  Then he was launching into a tale about a prank Loki and he had played when they were children.  Wild explanations of places Peter could only dream of filled his mind as Thor continued to speak.

*

It was late when the other Avengers finally stumbled into Avengers Tower once JARVIS had explained that both Peter and Thor were still in the movie room.  Tony glanced at the clock reading almost three.  He moved carefully because falling over was not a good idea.  Then Steve would never let him drink at those events ever again.  And things like that _needed_ alcohol.

Peter was curled up in the chair closest to the huge couch wrapped in a cover while Thor was sprawled out across the whole couch.  One arm dangled over the side.  Both animals were asleep on the floor.

Natasha grabbed one of the blankets from the closet to drape over Thor before she moved back over to Bruce who headed in the direction of the nearest bedroom.  Both completely ready to get out of the formal attire and into bed.

Tony beamed, “See!  Thor was an excellent choice.” He was beyond proud of this fact.  Steve just grinned at him.

“An excellent choice indeed.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope that was worth the wait. Now I'm going to try to get the second chapter for Some Nights complete!


	11. The Art of Trusting Others

Tony trudged up the stairs from his workshop with goggles pushed up into his hair and dark circles under his eyes.  His movements were slow, slightly sluggish and uncoordinated as he finally made it into the kitchen.  Eyes struggled to stay open as the coffee brewed and as he took that first blissful first sip.  Caffeine was something he needed in his life.  Now.

He just breathed in the aroma of the most perfect beverage in the world; next to alcohol that is.  “JARVIS?  Where is Steve?  Is he in bed yet?”

“Captain Rogers is in the movie room on the couch.  He has yet to go to bed.” JARVIS sounded harassed which made complete sense to Tony.  Especially since the AI had been _hinting_ at sleep for hours and Tony had _hinted_ that JARVIS needed to _back the fuck off_ because he was in the middle of a huge project.  One he was _going_ to finish if it took his last fucking breath.

“Thanks.” Tony drained the cup before leaving it in the sink.  Someone would bitch at him for it in the morning or was it morning already?  Who cares; the point was that he _knew_ someone would bitch about it and that was more than enough to qualify it as an acceptable thought.  Slowly he padded toward the movie room where a soft glow from the TV illuminated the room and the supersoldier on the couch.  A very asleep supersoldier.  Steve Rogers was laying on his back wearing a pair of headphones connected to the StarkPlayer which held music from the 2000s.  An abandoned sketchpad lay on the table next to him.  Various supplies cluttered the table, a few had tumbled to the floor and one was being hugged by Zeus who lay on the floor clutching at the pencil.

Tony stood there gazing down at Steve with a slightly stupid grin on his face that he would deny to nearly everyone.  Part of him wanted to just climb on top of Steve, drag him up into a kiss and have his way with him because there was nothing wrong with that option.  Ever.  Another part just wanted to change into something that was _not_ covered in oil and snuggle with Steve because the man smelled delicious and was warm and comfy and didn’t that look like the perfect place to pass out?  Yes it did.  Tony’s body twitched in Steve’s direction.

Deciding that option number two was the best course of action Tony gradually made his way up to his room, pulled his dirty clothes off, tugged on a pair of lounge pants, washed his face that apparently had acquired some kind of grease and sluggishly moved towards the movie room.  With a tired grin he joined Steve on the couch, moving right into Steve’s space and turning him into a body pillow.  Tony could hear the soft breathing, the steady thump of Steve’s heartbeat and feel the arms closing around him even as he tangled his legs with Steve’s.  Wrapped himself up so completely in Steve that he didn’t care about anything else because now he was warm and content.  Something he’d denied himself far too many times.

Maybe tomorrow he could explore option number one?  When he was actually cognitively aware of which hand was his left and which was his right because right now the answers to those two questions were just out of his grasp.  “What have you done to me?” he muttered before his eyes closed and Tony Stark’s body went completely lax with sleep.  Not even having to try and ignore his racing thoughts.  They were more than happy to go to sleep with him.

Steve just turned slightly in his sleep putting his back further into the couch as he continued to dream, arms tightening around Tony subconsciously.  Cooper snored from a nearby chair where a box of tissues that Natasha had left behind sat.

Hours later an alarm went off and Tony sleepily untangled himself from Steve, trudged across the room and popped a blue pill into his mouth dry swallowing it.  He moved back to the warm couch and snuggled back into Steve’s arms with a sigh.

*

Someone up there was laughing.  There was just no way that they weren’t.  Iron Man resisted the urge to scream his frustration over the comm because he was sure his teammates, who were busy relaying information to each other, would not appreciate his brief flight from sanity.

“What the fuck guys?!” Hawkeye’s voice suddenly blared over the comm, “Why are we always getting with the weirdest fucking villains?  Why can’t the X-Men or Fantastic Four get these guys?  Seriously?  Xavier could just mind-wipe or whatever the fuck it is he does and then BOOM.  No weirdass creations to cause mass destruction for the Avengers to clean up!  Foolproof plan!  Who has old Charlie boy’s number?”

Iron Man snorted, but refrained from making the obvious comment.  He had Charles Xavier’s number and he had managed to avoid meeting that man in person because _no one_ needed to be inside his head.  No one.  It was just safer that way Tony knew this for a fact.

“Focus on the threat, Barton.  I doubt Mr. Xavier would appreciate being called ‘Charlie boy’.” Came Coulson’s unamused voice.

“Bet he’d love that nickname.” It was muttered petulantly as another arrow bounced off the threat.  Iron Man would bet anything that Hawkeye was scowling fiercely.

“Stop pouting, Barton!  It is heading in your direction.”

The huge yellow blob that vaguely reminded Iron Man of the Wal-Mart smiley face thing had moved down the street crushing cars, breaking off pieces of buildings and causing people to run screaming in terror.  It honestly wasn’t that scary looking, but the damn thing wasn’t stopping and could cause real damage if it went in the wrong direction or wasn’t stopped.  Fortunately they had moved into a rather unpopulated area.

Iron Man mentally agreed with Hawkeye about someone else getting these weird villains.  But at least this wasn’t New York, again.

Captain America’s shield ricocheted off of it and bounced back towards his head.  Iron Man winced as Captain America barely managed to avoid being taken out by his own shield.   He watched as Captain America fell back to where the other team members were planning an attack, one he could tell just by listening to their ideas wasn’t going to work.  If they had Thor it might, but he was in Asgard and wasn’t supposed to be back until tomorrow.  Nothing was stopping the damn thing and Iron Man had an idea.

One that he’d been expressively told _not to do_.  But nothing was working and it could work.  They were in a warehouse district in the middle of nowhere.  What was the harm in causing a huge explosion?  He could have these buildings rebuilt.  It would be pocket change.  Well for him it would be.

“Hey guys.  Take cover.” He watched as without hesitation Blackwidow took cover pulling Captain America with her; Hawkeye dropped completely out of sight.

“Tony!  I said we were not taking that option.  Stand down Iron Man.” The force of command blasted over the comm, but Iron Man was already moving.  Putting as much into the thrusters as he powered up the repulsors.

Then he was inside the huge blob and releasing every last bit of that gathered energy.  A huge flare filled the area as the blob seemed to almost implode before bursting into billions of tiny pieces.  Iron Man was blasted back from the remains.  He broke through a few poles before slamming into a warehouse that gave way as he disappeared leaving only a huge hole behind.  Crashing sounds indicated how far he’d tumbled through the building.

“Threat contained.” Coulson’s voice came over the comm at last and was slightly strained.

“Dammit Tony!” Steve tore off the cowl on his head as he moved towards the warehouse and pushed back the panic as fury overwhelmed him.

Tony lay on the floor looking around idly at the damage he’d caused the poor building before relaxing back into the suit.  His faceplate moved to reveal his face as a satisfied grin stole over his features.  He’d killed the Wal-Mart smiley-faced looking blob.  It was an accomplishment he would relish for a while.  Stark vs. Wal-Mart smiley with Stark as the clear victor!  This moment should be recorded for future generations to enjoy.

“ _Are you crazy_?” the voice tore through the relatively quiet atmosphere that had descended upon Tony’s landing site.  “I specifically said _no_ to that course of action.  Do you have a problem following orders?”

He turned his head sideways to see Steve standing there with a fierce look on his face and sighed.  “It was the _best_ course of action.  Nothing you were throwing at it was working.  Natasha doesn’t have enough firepower nor is she honestly well enough to fight, the Hulk wasn’t going to stop it and Hawkeye wasn’t working either.  I had the best chance of stopping that thing and _I was completely right_.” Tony sat up before getting to his feet.  The scratches to the suit were minor and he would not have to worry about extensive repairs with this suit.  He felt very accomplished.  Steve needed to take a chill pill.

“We were working on a plan.” Steve sounded annoyed and was getting short with Tony.

“Well your plan wasn’t going to be that effective.” Tony turned away and started moving through the debris from his landing place in the building.

Steve strode forward grabbing onto Iron Man’s wrist turning him around, blue eyes stern.  “What have we said about teamwork?  This isn’t a one man team!  We work as a whole and this inability to follow orders, to work together could compromise us on a mission where our defenses are left open!”

Tony jerked his wrist out of Steve’s grip.  “Look.  I made a call.  A call that worked.  There is nothing negative about the result.  So a building got smashed?  How many others were smashed by that damn thing before?  If it had returned to a populated area it could have killed people!  If it makes you feel better I’ll pay to repair this building and the others.  How is that?  Ok?  Are we good?  Great!  Now I just want to go home, take off the suit, shower and head to the workshop.”

A muscle tightened in Steve’s jaw, “No.  We’re not good.  _Dammit, Tony_.” There was exasperation as Steve fought past the fear that had fueled his anger.  He wanted Tony safe and alive, but when he did things like this it was hard to see those goals to the end.  It made him want to scream and rage.

“Well that’s too bad because I’m good and that is all that matters right now.  No one was hurt.  Pull the stick out of your ass, Steve.” Tony scowled as Steve stepped into his space.  “I thought you were over this whole thing where you’re constantly trying to rein me in or change me.”

“That isn’t what this is about!”

The repulsors turned on and Iron Man hovered prepared to leave, “I’m not doing this.”

Steve’s hand snapped out grabbing onto the Iron Man suit, “We are doing this.” And his grip tightened on the off chance that Tony did try to leave.  He was going with him if that was the case.

“You’re not perfect!  You can’t possibly know the absolute best course of action!  I can run probabilities in my head as well as having JARVIS run them.  You don’t have that kind of access.  We were analyzing the composition of that _thing_ since we arrived on the scene.  Sometimes you don’t know!”

“I know I’m not perfect!  I’m far from perfect.  I don’t want you to do something stupid and kill yourself!  Is that too hard to understand?  Before it was that you were a teammate.  And then my best friend.  Now I can’t imagine what I would do if you died!  Sometimes you’re the only thing keeping me sane; the only thing that makes living in this time bearable!” The fire that had burned in Steve’s voice drained away to a quiet agony that caused Tony to look away.  If anyone could put that look on Steve’s face it was Tony.  He knew he was going to fuck this relationship thing up.  Just knew it and here was the proof.  Who did that to someone that they supposedly loved?  To someone as good and pure and honest as Steve Rogers?

“That isn’t fair.”

“How many times have I heard the expression ‘life isn’t fair’?”

“Shit.  I didn’t shut off the comms.  Great…I’m sure the others have enjoyed this.” Tony groused and tried not to scowl because he did not need this going into the official comm channel for everyone and their fucking brother to hear.

“I took the liberty of severing the connection between your communicators and your teammates.  They have not been privy to your conversation since Captain Rogers entered the building.”

“I love you JARVIS.” Tony sounded grateful before finally turning to look at Steve who was just sort of staring at him.  The anger still simmered below the surface, but it had been largely replaced by worry and fear; by desperation for Tony to _understand_.  Tony was very well acquainted with these emotions on Steve’s face and noted they were often directed in his direction.  That if anyone to do that to Captain America it was him.  Tony Stark had an ability to drive almost everyone insane and sometimes it was without trying.

“I’m sorry for yelling at you, but sometimes you just…push me there.  I try not to…” Steve trailed off uncertainly while still staring at Tony and just wanting to crush the other man to him.  Shaking him because maybe some sense might actually get into that thick head of Tony’s.

He crossed his arms and tried to push back the annoyance at Steve falling back into his usual Captain America, leader of the Avengers, habits that drove him up the wall.  It was reminiscent of that first meeting, but to a lesser degree thankfully. 

“I’m good at that.” Tony offered a slight smirk instead, “Ask Pepper.  I’m surprised I haven’t been billed for a Psychologist bill yet.”

A small smile pulled at Steve’s lips, “I’m surprised about that as well.”

“I’ll _try_ not to do something to get myself killed.  Does that work?  If I see a better option that you don’t see I can’t promise not to act on it.  It just isn’t in my nature to curve that, Steve.  I’m sorry for _ignoring_ your orders.” He meant the sorry and knew that Steve was aware of it, but getting a sorry from Tony was typically impossible on a good day.  Steve managed the impossible at times.

“ARE YOU ALMOST DONE BITCHING EACH OTHER OUT YET?  I WANT FOOD!” Clint’s voice broke through the remaining tension.

“YOU’RE BUYING BARTON!” Tony yelled back smirking when Steve chuckled and the tension in the air faded.

“FUCK YOU!  YOU’RE A BILLIONIARE!” a laugh came with the shouting and Tony relaxed as the muscles in his body stopped being so damn tense completely.  A sneeze echoed through the warehouse followed by a curse from Natasha.  She hated colds and Tony resolved to keep his distance from her until she looked better or stopped the damn sneezing.

*

Steve was sketching in bed and Tony paused in the doorway because this was just so very domestic and something he’d never thought he would have.  Never in a million years did he consider he would have this.  It was going to be Tony, lifetime bachelor; spending way too much time down in his workshop and going out to destroy the weapons he’d unknowingly had sold to the wrong people.  Possibly staying with Pepper or possibly sleeping with random strangers once more because that was expected of him and who was he to disappoint others?  There was never going to be an Avengers’ Tower, a team, a long-term relationship or even a relationship with a man.  He wasn’t going to be a father because _Tony Stark: Dad_ just wasn’t a title he deserved.  Wasn’t one he’d earned.  How could he have imagined the Avengers?  And who had seen Peter Parker coming?  Had seen any of that working?  Because he sure as hell had not.  It had kind of blindsided him, but Tony wasn’t going to second guess these decisions because he’d never felt so light and as though he actually fit somewhere with other people.  His whole life he’d never quite _fit_ with anyone or anything.

“Are you just going to stare off into space?” Steve’s teasing voice caught Tony’s attention and caused the billionaire to snap out of his thoughts.  He’d paused in the middle of his sketching and Tony strode across the room to the bed.  Without giving it much thought he flung himself onto the bed and wrapped his arms around a pillow.

“So…Fury’s an asshole.” Tony finally spoke turning his head to the side as he watched Steve begin sketching once more.  Steve was quiet, focused so very completely on his sketching and Tony just laid there listening to the sounds of Steve drawing; letting it wash over his senses the calm filling the room.  So very far from the fight they’d had in that warehouse, the tension from before having completely dissipated while eating with the team.

“You like to say that rather frequently.” Steve grinned down at the sketchbook, blue eyes darting sideways to take in Tony’s easy posture on the bed as he hugged onto the pillow in his arms.  The brilliant glow of the arc reactor was muted by his positioning but the light still caught his eyes.

Tony smirked, “When something is true I like to keep others informed.  He spent the whole fucking debriefing bitching me out and telling me I’m a _rogue_!  Director Cyclops can bite me.”

An eyebrow arched, “Bite you?  You really want him _biting_ you?”

“Yes.  You’ve discovered my secret fantasy of Fury _biting me_.  It gets me through the long, cold nights when I’m all by my lonesome.” It was sarcastic and filled with enough humor that Steve paused his actions to consider Tony with a rather disturbed expression on his face.

“Ew.”

A snort escaped Tony, “Ew?  That is hardly polite!  What would your fellow senior citizens say about such language and disrespect?  Bad Capsicle!  _Bad_!” he moved closer, “What are you drawing now?”

“Hmm?” Steve was trying not to grin too widely at Tony’s antics because encouraging such behavior should not be done.  Tony did not _need_ encouragement in this area of his life.  At all.  It led to a path that few were brave enough to willingly venture down.  Fortunately Steve sometimes knew shortcuts and other times he didn’t mind getting lost.

But Tony had moved closer and was looking down at himself sprawled out on the bed, limbs haphazardly flung across the sheets, hair mussed from sleep, pillows scattered and night pants riding low on his hips.  The arc reactor was not yet lit up, but Tony knew it would be the first piece of the image to be completely brought to life with Steve’s skilled hands.  Steve always gave color and life to the arc reactor first when he was drawing Tony Stark.  Always drew Natasha’s eyes first.  Clint’s smirk and Thor’s wide beam.  Bruce’s hands because they were constantly moving and Coulson’s suit as the Agent was known for it, took pride in it.

In the image Tony was clearly sleeping and judging by the relaxed lines of his face, the hint of a smile tugging at his lips it was not one of those horrible dreams he still got where he was stuck in that cave and he was never getting out.  He wondered when it could have been from and did he honestly look that relaxed?  That peaceful?  Tony knew he was a whirlwind of movement and energy and chaos and snark.  It was something he accepted and was surprised when others did as well.  At least that was what he’d been told he was like and as he enjoyed having something to keep his hands busy with he couldn’t argue.

“When was this?” he questioned softly, hand moving out as though to touch the image before aborting the movement and pulling it back.

“Last week.  I think you finally worked yourself into a state of unconsciousness.  We convinced you to go upstairs to sleep and when I finally came into the room you were sprawled out.” Steve was grinning and adding more detail to the image.  Careful strokes slowly added finer details, brought out certain lines sharper and simply astounded Tony.  That anyone could do such perfect work and not realize it was something he had a hard time comprehending.  But Steve would grin, would blush and deny most of the time when you tried to explain to him that his drawings were perfect renderings that were often better than the actual scene.  Mostly because Steve constantly strove to see the best in everyone and Tony believed it showed in the careful, faultless way that he brought those memories or images he had seen to life on the paper.  Better than a photo from a camera.

One of Steve’s drawings had been… _borrowed_ from his sketchbook and may or may not be framed in Tony’s office at Stark Industries.  He may or may not find himself staring at it and wishing he could sink back into the moment.  The image was of his unconventional family because that was what they’d become.  It was a scene of absolute chaos and disorder and life and messes everywhere.  The kitchen had not stood a chance, but everyone was laughing and smiling and covered in flour.  It was perfect and there were no words for how Tony felt staring at it.  Steve had used JARVIS to get a glance at the full scene before having the AI remove the image so he could draw it from memory as he did with his drawings.  Tony had caught him talking with his AI about it and had waited for the opportune moment to strike because the picture was something he’d truly wanted that money couldn’t buy.  Those were his favorite things ironically enough.  Moments, things…those parts of Tony’s life that money could not buy and that were honest and the absolute opposite of painful.

“How long were you standing there staring at me while I was unconscious?” he was smirking and enjoying the way Steve’s face was reddening at admitting to watching Tony sleep.  “What kind of perverse mind does Captain America actually have?  I need this information because there is a great possibility I can use it in the future or at least cause that blush to come back.” He winked and rolled over slightly as Steve ducked his head with a hint of a smile on his features even though he felt mildly embarrassed for watching Tony sleep because of the teasing grin on the other man’s face.  But Tony had been peaceful and it was so rare to see Tony’s guard so completely down; movement and Tony Stark had a very intimate relationship that Steve would never wish to dissolve.

Figuring he would just move forward Steve shrugged slightly, “It was nothing creepy.  I was just surprised you took our advice and that you actually dressed for sleep.  It was hard to look away…”

Tony cocked an eyebrow.  “Sure Spangles.  I bet it was nothing _creepy_.” He was grinning and his eyes were sparkling.  Steve tried not to poke Tony in the side too hard at the horrible nickname that surfaced ever so often.  _Spangles_.  He’d never live that down, but if he got to keep Tony he’d be ok with the downright evil nickname.  There were worse names he was sure.

A pair of dark eyes darted over to look at the drawing once more before Tony moved and snuggled into the covers.  The soft sigh that escaped Tony’s lips as the warmth wrapped itself around him made Steve grin.  “Sleepy?”

“Why yes.  Yes I am.  Try not to draw so loudly.  Honestly Peter can probably hear you from his room!  These loud outbursts of yours are unnecessary and obnoxious and horribly—” Steve cut him off with a kiss and Tony released a sigh before responding, his body going lax into the soft mattress before Steve pulled back and Tony reached up to drag him into a passionate kiss that stole Steve’ breath before releasing him.

“Good night, Tony.  I’ll try my hardest to refrain from sketching so loudly, but sometimes I just can’t help myself.” Steve was breathless and grinning.

“Good.  That’s what I thought.” Tony grinned and went through the mental process of trying to stop all of those horribly important and pressing thoughts that consumed him so frequently.  Worked to clear his mind from all the current projects and updates and worries and thoughts so he could focus on something relaxing.  Mentally he began to rebuild a circuit board, the same one he often would find himself mentally rebuilding when he had far too much on his mind and needed something slightly repetitive that he could just relax into.  Push everything else to the side and zero in on that one thing.  Sometimes he could drop off into sleep without a problem, but there were times when his mind would not rest.

Steve heard the moment that Tony’s breathing evened out and the genius dropped off into what would hopefully be a peaceful sleep.  It was rare to get Tony into bed at a decent time or without him staying up for a few days at a time without the promise of sex.  And even then sometimes Tony was focused on it so much that he’d end up shoving Steve back onto the couch, straddling him and then they would still be in the workshop and not in the bedroom where Steve had been prodding Tony toward.  But in those moments during and afterwards it was hard to complain about not accomplishing his goals.

His hand slowly reached out, ran through Tony’s dark hair and Steve listened to the sigh.  Reluctantly he removed his hand from Tony’s hair, moved his gaze back to the sketchbook in his hands and began working on his memory once more.  Steve’s eyes rested on the arc reactor in the center of Tony’s chest in the picture and part of him couldn’t help but think that having something so advanced, so vibrant and complex on the outside where others could see made sense in a twisted way.  Tony Stark was life, creativity, genius, complexity, humor and possessed a bright light.  Now that bright light was completely visible for all to see.  An undeniable proof of the genius on the outside for the world to see.  The pain and suffering and nightmares and torment that Tony went through were nothing Steve would wish on anyone.  But Tony Stark had overcome it, had taken something so dark and horrible and painful to turn it into something he could save lives with as well as his own.

Had seen the positive in the suffering and had then utilized his genius to protect; to defend.

Again Steve took notice of what he was drawing; the image an opposite of what one would think about when thinking of Tony.  It was that relaxed image that made all the movement and life around Tony even more amazing to Steve.

He spent a few more hours on the drawing, adding color to the arc reactor.  Getting just the right glow of blue because that was something he could not mess up.  If he did Steve would start over because without that arc reactor Tony would not be there with Steve.  Twisted in the covers and currently hugging onto his pillow.  Hair a wild mess from hands and covers and pillows.  Lean body relaxed into the sheets with soft breathing filling the near silent room.  Steve could hear the faint hum of the arc reactor.

Steve worked hard not to think about the fight today, how Tony had thrown himself into the fray once more in a way that could have caused so much harm and possibly death to Iron Man that Steve couldn’t breathe for a few moments there.  Had felt fury rush through his body and choke him because how could Tony be so careless with himself?  Steve would not be left alone again.  He was better off buried in the ice than with Tony Stark dead.  But he couldn’t say those exact words…yet.  Didn’t want to put that on Tony’s shoulders because once those words were out there they could not be taken back.  And he would apologize a thousand times over in a thousand different ways if it stopped Tony from being furious with him and closing himself off.  A closed off Tony was a dangerous Tony because that Tony was even more harmful to himself.  Steve would find another way and could honestly say he was sorry because he didn’t want to upset Tony.  To hurt him.  Steve wanted to protect him and keep him safe and show him that he was loved more than words could possibly give justice to.

He’d held off for so long, not making a move on his feelings for Tony and he had so much time to make up for.  So he found himself pushing Tony against the wall, kissing him, touching him and wrapping himself up in the other man.  Finally getting his dance and just enjoying every chance he had to be around Tony.  Steve loved that Tony didn’t seem to mind, that he enjoyed the attention and often pushed back; often stole kisses and would seek him out when he was actually tired.

Steve finished working on the drawing for the evening.  The sketchbook was placed down on the bedside table, his art supplies were carefully placed in the drawer before Steve moved under the covers and wrapped himself around Tony.  The warmth and the familiar feel of Tony Stark was the perfect thing to lull him into a peaceful sleep.

*

Tony’s whole body tensed as he heard the alarm going off.  That annoying beep that signaled only one thing.  Those fucking pills that he tried so hard not to think about and not to acknowledge, but he’d programmed JARVIS to alert him to when it was time.  Even in the middle of a project in his workshop or on Asgard or when he was way for Stark Industries that alarm went off the same time.  He would reach for the container holding them and take one until the next dose was required.  Tony knew he had been lucky that the body Loki had given him as a child did not require those pills as it was healthy and youthful and didn’t have an arc reactor that had destroyed his immune system.  He couldn’t imagine the problems that could have arisen during those two instances.

They were important and he needed them, needed to build his fucking immune system up from the palladium poisoning and with Natasha getting sick there was no way he could afford to forget one of those damn pills.  If he kept this up eventually he could stop taking them.  Tony hated reliance on pills.  Who wanted to have to take one of those damn things for the rest of their lives?  Not him.  Maybe he could work with Bruce on a hypothetical situation where they could reconstruct an immune system with one pill or dose or something.  It wouldn’t be bad to test that, would it?

His hand reached out blindly from under the covers and into his bedside drawer, to the very back under the various items he’d piled in there to hide this stash of pills.  He had one in the kitchen, the workshop, his office, the bathroom and several other places because he was never in the same place when the alarm went off.  It should save time.  Finally his hand closed over the case and he pulled it out before bringing it under the covers with him.  Sleepy eyes regarded it with confusion when nothing was there.  Huh.  Tony could have sworn there were still some pills left in this one.

Slowly he swung his legs over the bed and trudged into the bathroom.  They were empty there as well.  Moving slightly faster he wandered into the bedroom and towards the pack he’d taken with him to Asgard.  Those were gone.  Tony’s eyes darted over to the bed to see that Steve wasn’t there, but Zeus rested on the pillow little chest moving up and down with each breath.  His paws twitched.

“JARVIS.  Where is everyone?” he was already moving through his floor towards the elevator for the main floor.

“Captain Rogers and Agent Romanov went grocery shopping.  Agent Barton is with Peter in the rec room playing pool and Agent Coulson has left the Tower for some errands.  Dr. Banner is in his lab.” Came the prompt response.

“Great.” He muttered to himself as the doors opened and headed towards the workshop.  “Where the fuck are they?” he scowled as he typed in his code and began to turn his workshop upside down looking for the medication.  Dummy whirred at him uncertainly.  “Why is this…I could have...but maybe…”

Tony moved back up the stairs and was tearing through the kitchen drawers looking for one of them.  He _needed_ to take the next dose.  He could not risk getting sick.  Could not deal with that.  “JARVIS!  Where are they?” he demanded jerking another drawer out.

“Maybe you should check—”

“I know where—”

“—drawer in the—”

A crash sounded in the kitchen when Tony yanked the whole drawer out.  Various items scattered across the floor flying in all directions.  Some rolled under the fridge, the chairs and into various places that Tony was not going to be digging around in because he was on a mission.

Nothing.  There were none in the kitchen.  He didn’t have any in his room.  The workshop didn’t have any more and he _knew_ there were none at Stark Industries because the last time he had been there he’d taken the last one since he had promised Pepper he would actually go through those forms.  The alarm had reminded him and he’d reached in the drawer, noted it was the last one and took it with the remains of his coffee.  But there were supposed to be some in the Tower!  He had thought he had enough.

“Sir you should—”

“I need to find—”

“I’m trying to explain—”

“Fucking hell JARVIS I’m trying—”

But even as he tried arguing with JARVIS Tony was tearing through the Tower, yanking open drawers, looking under furniture, digging through the closets and oh look he just broke a lamp.  Great.  Just fucking great where were those pills and why oh why could he never take care of himself?  Why did this stupid shit always happen to him?

“ _No_.  No, no no no no no no no no NO!” he had successfully pulled out all the cushions in the movie room, broken a lamp, blankets were everywhere and a good portion of the Tower was now in complete disarray.

“Sir!  _Calm down_ —”

“ _I am calm!  I’m as calm as a fuckin—_ ”

“Have you—”

“Dammit JARVIS!” Tony stood in the middle of the chaos of the movie room, breathing ragged and eyes panicked.  This was supposed to be a fucking secret, his teammates didn’t need to know that he _needed_ to take medication, didn’t need to know about that fucking issue of his health and Steve sure as hell didn’t need to know.  The man should be renamed Captain Worrier.

Tony was having problems breathing and was the world closing in on him?  How could this have happened?  He had so many fucking stashes of those things so this wouldn’t happen!  Tony Stark was a genius and maybe Pepper Potts was right that he could not take care of himself.  He could create technology that no one in their wildest dreams could have even _imagined_ and he couldn’t take care of himself.  Couldn’t remember to eat or sleep or replenish his supply of medication for his fucked up immune system that he was constantly trying not to think about.  That is why they were all over the place in spots he most frequented so he didn’t have to think about them or that he _needed_ them.  The reminder went off, he reached for one and took it with whatever drink was handy or sometimes with nothing.  Then it was done and he didn’t have to think about it until the next warning went off.  His immune system slowly recovered and he was that much closer to being back to his pre-palladium poisoning days.

His hands were shaking slightly and he was having problems thinking.  This was not good.  This was so bad that there were no words for it and he’d been searching for over an hour.  There were none.  Absolutely none.

No one knew of this except for JARVIS and didn’t that just suck in this instance?

The elevator opened and Agent Phil Coulson stared at the carnage that was the main floor of the Avengers’ Tower.  His eye twitched and he mentally counted to ten.  It did nothing for his blood pressure that was cheerfully reminding him that he was getting far too old for this kind of thing.

“JARVIS?” he questioned softly, fingers tightening on the bag in his hand and slowly moving into the mess.  “What happened?”

“Sir is having a panic attack in the movie room.”

Coulson moved quickly to the room in question to see a very panicked and worried Tony Stark.  The room was destroyed and there was a broken lamp on the floor.  Stuff was everywhere and Tony’s hands were shaking.  Quickly Coulson was in front of Tony and gripping onto his shoulders.  Trying to bring him out of the panic attack.

“Snap out of it, Stark.  Come on.  _Tony_!” brown eyes darted to meet Coulson’s serious, calm eyes and the SHIELD agent saw the instant that Tony recognized him.

“You don’t understand!  I’m out of them.  I thought I still had a few left, but they’re out and I’m supposed to order new ones a week ahead.” Because those pills were specially designed medication for Tony’s very unique medical issue; something so important and he’d fucked it up again.  Only this time he was the one who was going to be impacted and there was nothing he could do.

“What are you talking about?” Coulson needed confirmation about the issued so he could solve it because that was what he did.  He solved issues for his Avengers.  Fixed things and he’d be damned if Stark came up with something he couldn’t solve.  They were his and he would not let anything happen to them if he could prevent it.

A harsh laugh escaped from Tony’s lips, “No one knows.  I haven’t told anyone.” He glanced to the side, but Coulson’s hands remained resting on his shoulders.  Keeping him present instead of going off into his mind and freaking out more.  Panicking wasn’t helpful in the least.

“What haven’t you told anyone?  Is there something wrong with you?  _What is wrong_?”

A sharp exhale, “My immune system is completely fucked.  The palladium poisoning had a greater impact on my body than I had originally anticipated.” Tony’s voice was high with hysteria because he was panicked since those pills protected him from not being able to fight against whatever infection he acquired.  He’d been worried about Natasha’s cold, but those pills helped him.  Protected him.  “I have to take medication otherwise with my immune system in the state that it is currently I could be hospitalized because of a fucking cold.” Those tense shoulders slumped because Tony Stark was brilliant, was a fighter and this was something he couldn’t fight without those things.

Coulson’s eyes darted down to the bag on the floor he’d dropped when he’d moved forward to grasp Tony’s shoulders.  Slowly he removed his hands and bent down to pick it up.  He held the bag out for Tony who stared at it and then at him with an incredulous expression.  “Here, Stark.”

Tony stared for a few seconds longer before reaching out to grasp the bag because Coulson was giving him this look and Tony figured sometimes it was better not to question what the man was doing.  He’d gotten a headache before questioning Coulson and there was no point in having a headache on top of panicking.  That would not be helpful in the least.

His hands pulled the bag open and he stared inside.  Several bottles stared back at him with the name _Tony Stark_ clearly labeled on them.  The immune system medication rested safely in the bag, in his hands and right in front of him.  Not questioning it Tony was moved into the kitchen as he opened up one of the containers, he pulled out a bottle of water and took one of his damn pills.  It was as though a weight had been lifted from his shoulders and he could breathe again.  The tension fled his body.

“JARVIS.  Run clean bots program CU457.  Every room I searched through.  Have Dummy and You start on the workshop.  I’ll be down there soon.”

“Of course, Sir.”

Coulson stood in the doorway as a bot moved past him and began picking up the mess in the kitchen.  It moved carefully as it picked things up, opened the drawers and deposited items in their correct positions.

“Stark.  Did you tear apart the whole Tower?”

“No.  Just the places I typically have them.” Tony did not want to meet Coulson’s eyes because he did not like others seeing him in such a state, but he’d panicked and this wasn’t supposed to happen.  No one was supposed to know about another one of Tony Stark’s weaknesses.

“Look at me.” Coulson did not sound amused, but he did not sound angry either which was good because it was technically Tony’s Tower and if he wanted to mess it up then he had every right to do so.  A tiny voice in his head was saying that it was _their_ Tower now and he shouldn’t do that to them.

“How did you know?  How did you get them?” Tony finally asked because he was going to find out and if he had to pry those answers out of Coulson well he could put up a pretty good fight.  He weighed his options.  There was a chance.  If he acted quickly and caught Coulson by surprise.

“I’ve known about them since the incident occurred.  You were assigned to me before that happened and I take my job as a SHIELD handler seriously.  Your health is just one aspect that I must be aware of and work to maintain.”

“Does SHIELD know?” Tony stared hard at Coulson and felt the panic trying to crawl up his throat once more to steal his ability to breath, to think rationally.

“No.  It does not appear to compromise your role as Iron Man, as a consultant or an Avenger so I have not found it necessary to bring attention to it.” Coulson raised an eyebrow at Tony when the tension that had built rapidly in Tony’s frame lessened.

“Thank you.  I do not need someone exploiting it.” there was a slight strain to Tony’s voice, but he maintained composure even as he held onto the bag tightly.

“I’ve monitored your stock and noted you were running low so I took initiative to refill your prescription.  This isn’t something you have to hide.  It is nothing to be ashamed of.” Coulson kept the same steady presence that Tony had become very familiar with.  His voice was reassuring and calm.

“How?” 

“I asked JARVIS to alert me when you were low.”

“JARVIS why did you not say something?”

“ _I tried_.” And didn’t his AI sound prissy.  But Tony had been worried and it was not his fault that he’d panicked and couldn’t think of anything but finding some more.  Though if he’d paid attention that might not have happened.

The bot continued to move about the kitchen around them cleaning up Tony’s mess while several bots moved around the Tower completing a very similar task.

“ _What happened in here_?” Steve’s voice pitched high and Tony winced holding tightly to the bag in his hands.  The bot whirred as it passed them with another load of items for a drawer.  “ _Tony_?  Are you ok?” a worried note had moved into his voice and a clicking could be heard that signaled Natasha moving as well.

Steve walked into the kitchen holding several bags of groceries while Natasha followed him in with more.  “It looks like a bomb went off.  There are bots everywhere.” Natasha stared at the two men in the middle of the kitchen that was also noticeably in disarray.  “We were gone for two hours.  _Two hours_.”

Tony stared down at the bag in his hands and glanced over at Coulson who had raised an eyebrow.  “It never hurts to share a burden.”

“I couldn’t find my medication.”

“There is a joke there.” Natasha said with a small grin but she didn’t take the obvious chance instead waiting for Tony to elaborate.  He looked serious.

“But you haven’t been taking anything since you were last seriously injured.” Steve looked confused as he put the bags on the island while Natasha moved to do the same.  “What medication?” he looked concerned.  “Are you hurt?” blue eyes moved over Tony’s form looking for changes in how he held himself or visible evidence that Tony had been hurt.

Bruce walked into the kitchen in time to hear Tony’s reluctant explanation.

“My immune system was damaged.  When I suffered palladium poisoning from the arc reactor my immune system was compromised.  I have to take medication to build it back up.” He glanced over at Natasha who was still visibly not at her best.  “Otherwise I run the risk of being hospitalized for a cold instead of just having an annoying infection.”

Steve stared at him, “Your immune system?  Why haven’t you said anything?  Did you find some?  Are you ok now?  Do you need something else?” he fired off several questions and the concern in his eyes was more than obvious.  But he wasn’t mad that Tony had not disclosed the information which made Tony feel better.  Though a part of his mind was screaming to drop it, that it was something he needed to keep to himself and he didn’t have to share it.  He was fighting this and was going to recover.  Tony didn’t need others hovering over him.  Didn’t need Steve freaking out and trying to mother-hen him.  Didn’t need a keeper or someone watching his medication intake.

“Yes, my immune system.  I didn’t say anything because it’s pathetic and who wants to admit that a tiny cold could severely incapacitate them if they don’t take some pills?  That I have to rely on something like that?  I try not to think about it!  JARVIS just alerts me and I take one.  No thinking on it and it’s done.” Tony scowled and crossed his arms because he _hated_ this.  “Coulson brought some back.  I’m ok.  I took one.  And no…I don’t need anything else.  It isn’t a big deal and I don’t want anyone making it into one.  Or talking about it.  Or acknowledging it exists.  Or treating me differently!  It doesn’t mean anything.” His chin tilted up in defiance and his eyes hardened in challenge.

“We’re not going to pity you, Tony.” Natasha stared at him, “Though it is nice to know why you act the way you do when one of us gets sick.  The minor freak-outs when you get sick yourself.”

“Is that why you act that way when you start getting sick?” Steve asked softly, staring at Tony because he’d seen the other man sick.  Tony was needy when sick, but he tried so damn hard to not interact with the others and always seemed so worried underneath the surface.  Steve stuck around anyway.  It was harder for him to get sick than the others and he didn’t mind caring for others.  Enjoyed it.

“Maybe.” It was muttered and he shifted on his feet.  His stomach growled and the room was suddenly so very silent.  A snort from the doorway and drew everyone’s attention as Clint grinned in amusement.

“What’s for breakfast?  This horribly depressing atmosphere needs food.” He reached behind him and was dragging Peter into the room by his arm.  “And way to go Stark on the total destruction of various parts of the Tower.  I’m impressed.”

“Can we have eggs?” Peter asked hopefully as he offered his dad a grin.  “And if you program JARVIS with the exact number of pills you have each time he can alert you so that an order can be placed.” A sheepish smile took over Peter’s face as Cooper pulled on his pants leg with his teeth.  Tony nodded in thought.

Clint gave Peter a mock horrified look, “What have I told you about the art of eavesdropping?  You don’t let people _know you’re listening into them_!”

Steve snorted before turning to look at Peter, “Don’t listen to him.  Clint is a horrible role model in this regard.”

“I’m a paradigm of manners!  I’m amazingly perfect and an exceptional role model!” Clint pointed a finger accusingly at Steve.  “You sir are a _horrible_ role model!  Barely swearing, eating all of our food, making out with this poor young man’s dad in front of him, bringing home a puppy because he didn’t have a home and throwing a giant Frisbee type weapon at poor defenseless _villains_!  What is wrong with you?  The outrage!  The horror…oh the humanity!  My soul _aches_ with the burden of knowing about these heinous crimes and being able to do nothing to stop them!” Clint buried his face into Peter’s shoulder, body shaking as he suppressed some of the most overly exaggerated sobs that anyone in the kitchen had ever heard.  The archer clutched at Peter in dramatic desperation, wiry frame heaving as though he was trying and failing to stop moans of distress.

Peter was shaking helplessly with laughter, face pink and eyes shining from tears of amusement.  His face ended up pressed against Clint as he tried to stifle the laughter escaping.  Tony’s lips twitched with amusement and relief was so heady that he nearly started when it overcame him.  The others were laughing and Steve was trying to remain deadpan, but failing miserably.

And Tony realized he’d had nothing to worry about.  The bag clutched in his hand wasn’t so heavy anymore.  He allowed the amusement to overcome him and grinned widely before laughing when a snort escaped Steve who clapped a hand over his mouth in horror.

That set Natasha off and her eyes sparkled with humor as she leaned against Bruce who was chuckling as well.  A loud round of thunder filled the Tower in the mist of the laughing.

“FRIENDS!  I wish to partake in our morning ritual of Poptarts!” a voice boomed and echoed through the Tower.

Thor walked into the room beaming at everyone and taking in the humor the room was filled with.  He crushed Peter and Clint to him in a hug still maintaining his jovial mood.

“You’re in luck.  We just got back from buying some.” Natasha grinned when Thor’s eyes lit up and he turned to stare at the bags on the table with glee.

Steve moved closer to Tony, “Better?” he asked softly as chatter filled the room, bags rustled and Bruce started making eggs while Peter stared at the skillet with barely restrained interest.

“Considerably.” Tony grabbed onto the front of Steve’ shirt and dragged him in for a kiss.  Hands locked around Steve and Tony moved his lips against Steve’s.  Enjoying the warmth and the connection and the feeling Steve put into every kiss.  Let it wash over him and ground him.  Relished when the supersoldier knew what Tony was trying to do and happily reciprocated.  Loved the reaction he got from Steve.  He preferred not having an audience to such affection, but he _needed_ this and he’d be damned if he didn’t take it when Steve was more than happy to give it.

“Good.  How about you eat some breakfast?”

“Coffee?” it was hopeful and Tony turned his eyes to the machine in question with such longing that Steve was chuckling.  He caught Coulson’s eyes and nodded in appreciation.  “Thanks.” No one asked what it was for, but Coulson knew and that was the only thing that needed to happen.

It wasn’t mentioned what the ‘thanks’ was for, but Tony considered that it covered everything.  Sometimes he could admit when he appreciated help.

Sometimes. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mostly a Tony-centric chapter. Hope everyone enjoyed it. And thanks for the reviews. Always fascinating to read the comments and remarks on favorite parts.
> 
> Included prompt in chapter from paisley15 who asked for Tony forgetting to refill his medication (for his damaged immune system) causing complete panic and much destruction in the Tower. The prompt fit in with my story so I folded it into this chapter. Thanks for the prompt! It was a joy to write.


	12. Good PR Never Seems to Last Very Long

Peter watched as Iron Man and Captain America entertained the children.  Letting them explore the various pieces that made up their superhero uniforms.  Captain America’s shield was a particular point of interest.  He noted several parents taking pictures of their children with the two Avengers.  One child was exploring Iron Man’s glove before looking up at the arc reactor shining in the center and moving on to examining other parts of the armor.  Many of those present had been examining the shining red and gold of the Iron Man suit, small hands carefully touching it with obvious reverence that only a child could exhibit in such innocent fashion.

Then Iron Man was moving back from the children, Peter had missed his words, as the Iron Man suit retracted back into the suitcase version his dad had decided to wear for the occasion.  _Easier to carry around and step out of when the time comes_ , had been the response. The children gasped and an excited murmur rose up as his dad flashed a grin.  Happy stepped forward to grab the case and moved back as Tony was swarmed once more with children after he’d sat back down on the floor.  Captain America was letting the children look at his shield and allowing them to look over his uniform as he still had his very own cluster of children still very much enraptured.  Sometimes they would request he lift something nearby that required honest strength and once he’d received permission Steve was more than happy to oblige.  It was hard not to grin at the scene before him.  This was the first time he’d been taken along on one of these visits.  His dad would periodically visit children’s hospitals, schools, and events for young fans because he honestly enjoyed it. 

When Peter had enquired about his exploits he’d received a very enlightening explanation.  Tony knew what it was like to be ignored as a child, to be left behind or forgotten.  He never wanted that for any child.  To feel neglect or as though they weren’t important.  Instead his dad had confessed that his young fans were the most important.  The ones he loved to visit with when he got the chance and sometimes when he created the chance.

Often Tony would bring along his fellow Avengers for these trips.  It depended on who was around when he was leaving.  Usually Peter was in class when this happened but not today.  He’d elected to skip much to the disappointment of Steve and the silent approval from his dad who had winked.

A slight tugging on his shirt caused Peter to glance downwards to a little girl with big blue eyes staring at him inquiringly.  Carefully he crouched down to get eye level with her.  “Hello, I’m Peter.” He grinned softly as the little girl offered a small grin in return.

“Hi my name is Anne.” Came the small voice, “Are you a superhero too?” she asked.  Big eyes were staring at him in interest and curiosity.

Peter blinked.  “I’m pretty sure I’m not a superhero.  I just live with them.” His mind flashed to Spider-Man, the suit he would sometimes put on at night and help the occasional citizen of New York in need.  But Spider-Man stayed safely put away until he was needed and for the most part once more out of the public eye.

Anne frowned before shrugging, “My Mommy says anyone can be a hero.  So that means you can too.” She beamed up at Peter before lifting her arms to be picked up.  Peter glanced around before he complied.  It was pretty hard to say no to those bright eyes when they were focused so completely on him.  The kid’s hand locked onto him before Peter began moving towards Steve and his dad.

“That means you’re a hero as well.” He grinned as the little girl glanced at him.  The child had dark hair pulled into pigtails and reminded him of a little doll, but he wouldn’t voice that out loud.  She looked so fragile and Peter was briefly worried he’d accidently hurt her with his strength.  Sometimes he had trouble modulating it in relation to every day tasks.

She looked over at him, “Is Iron Man your dad?” completely ignoring the comment Peter had made and focusing on something else.  Peter wondered why, but pushed it aside.

“Yeah.  He adopted me.  I get to live with all of the Avengers.  You should see how messy they are.” It caused a giggle and was the desired result of Peter’s comment.  She was grinning at him, hand still clutched on him as he moved towards the other children.

“Who is the messiest?”

Peter paused and honestly considered it, “The messiest?  Probably Clint.  Hawkeye?” he specified as he knew most of the children knew the Avengers by their superhero identities.  “My dad is probably a close second or tied with Thor.  I’d have to look at their spaces again to decide.  Though Thor eats the most followed by Captain America.”

“Are you telling _lies_ to that adorable little girl?” Tony was giving him a look of mock horror from his spot surrounded by children.  “My own son!  Captain!  Here is your chance to defend my honor.  You were hired for this, remember?”

“You have honor, sir?” Happy inquired with a small grin and it earned a chuckle from Steve as well as many of the surrounding people.

A decidedly wounded expression stole of Tony’s face as he made his eyes go wide before turning to the assembled children around him.  “Will any of you protect me?  Avenge me?”

Little voices grew in strength as exclamations of support rose up.  The group of children moved as a tiny mob towards Peter who was trying not to laugh.  Carefully he sat Anne down before they reached him if only to make sure nothing happened to her.  They mobbed him; little hands grasping and Peter allowed himself to sink to the floor so as to not hurt them.  Tiny fingers ghosted across his side and a short giggle escaped.  It was like blood in the water because soon several others were tickling him and Peter was squirming, laughing, gasping and trying to wriggle away.  Tears started to fill his eyes from the laughter and he was joined by a chorus of children’s laughter.  The tiny army had taken Tony’s words to heart and were easily overwhelming the teenager with what appeared to be a tickle attack.

Over the laughter he could hear his dad boast, “And Loki said he had an army!  His army has _nothing_ on _mine_.”

Peter’s little friend from before stood off to the side, grinning at the scene before glancing up to meet her mother’s eyes.  She looked absolutely happy, but was more than cheerful to stand a short distance away from the giggling mess of humans on the floor.

The children surrounding Captain America were watching on, some itching to join the others and a few wondered over towards Tony now that he was no longer encircled.  One of the little Captain America fans slowly moved towards Tony looking at the glowing circle under the shirt he was wearing.  “What’s that?”

Tony’s body tensed slightly when the child touched the arc reactor before he forced his body to relax.  It was almost a knee-jerk reaction to someone moving towards it.  Obie had fucked him over in that regard, but it was probably for the best to be protective of it.  Tony wasn’t very fond of the pain he experienced when it was removed or injured.  But the small hand was inquiring and curious, brown eyes bright with interest and awe.  Not malice or vicious glee.  No harmful intent towards him.

“My heart.” He spoke softly as he remembered the ‘trophy’ Pepper had given him with his first version.  Tony sat watching as the boy blinked in surprise before smiling.

“It’s pretty.” And the child laid his hand flat against the blue glow illuminating the small hand, light peaked out from the edges casting a light on the kid’s face.  Steve glanced over at Tony on the ground to Peter covered in children who were laughing.

“I wouldn’t call it pretty...” Tony hedged slightly wishing for a slightly more manly descriptive as the young boy continued to observe the arc reactor with nothing short of curiosity.

“I think so to.” Steve agreed; the boy looked back over his shoulder at Captain America with a beam on his face before looking back.

“See?  Captain America agrees so that makes it true.”

“Hard to argue with the man.” Tony agreed, “I’m sure it makes it hard for others to sleep around me when we’re watching movies.  Bright light and all.”

“So you’re like a nightlight?”

Peter actually snorted at the comment having regained his breath after the children had ceased trying to kill him with laughter, with tickling.  Several were still giggling and a few more had perked up at the mention of Iron Man being a nightlight.

“It helps moving down the hallway at night.” Tony muttered as the child finally moved his hand away from the light.  It earned a few laughs and Steve was grinning slightly.

*

Peter stared at the wall inside the office at school.  Tried not to growl in frustration because he had a black eye and a cut on his face.  It was plain as day.  No way to hide it and Peter bit back the litany of curses at the fact.  If only he could have tapped into all of that hidden strength and speed then there wouldn’t be any physical evidence.  But he held back because it was _wrong_.

He was furious with himself.  There was no excuse.  None.  The Principal came back into the main area, a disappointed expression on his face and a paper in his hand.  It was more than obvious that the man was upset with Peter even though he was the victim and not the aggressor.

“You’ve been suspended for fighting for three days.  I’m only being this lenient with you because it’s your first time and from what I gathered it was mostly self-defense on your part.  Take this home.  I require a signature from your guardian.” the man before him wore a serious expression as he held out a piece of paper that Peter was mentally wishing would burst into flame.

“Yes, sir.” Peter reached out to collect the paper, hand briefly tightening around the sheet before relaxing.  Slight crinkles were left in the wake of his quick surge of frustration.

“Make sure you stop by the nurse first to get that cut cleaned.  Your teachers will be informed of your suspension.” It was curt and to the point.  No sympathy from the man before him.

Peter nodded and turned from the Principal before moving towards his locker, gathering his books and bag he began making rounds to speak with his teachers.  Hoping to get assignments for the coming days.  It took a little while and he bypassed the nurse, but Peter managed to get all of his assignments as well as several mini lectures focusing around him being a good student, a good kid and he really shouldn’t be fighting.  Why was he fighting in school?

 _Not my fault_.

With a sigh he pulled on his coat and trudged outside into the snow.  Winter had been settled into New York for a while and he was not calling Happy to come get him.  Or any of the other Avengers.  Or Coulson.  The cold felt good against the heat of the bruise and the sting of the cut.  Briefly Peter closed his eyes, took a deep breath and steeled his nerves.  This was the first time one of those altercations at school had earned him a note home.  Usually Uncle Ben would be far too tired to say much or he’d give Peter a slightly disappointed look that Peter was home with more bruises.  But he’d sign the paper.  Wouldn’t make a big deal especially since Peter was clearly on the losing end of each alteraction.

Now Peter had no idea how his dad was going to react.  Suspended for three days.  Maybe the real one to worry about was Steve Rogers.  The man was a saint and Peter could already imagine the disappointed look, the shaking of the head or even a sigh.  His side gave a slight twinge from pain; from being shoved into the metal bar of the bleachers.  It had been sudden.  Unexpected and he’d ignored that damn feeling.  The one that told him something was going to happen.  Something was wrong.  Now his side was cheerfully reminding him that ignoring a gut feeling was stupid.  Not to do it again.

But he’d been stunned, shocked at the sudden violence and had managed to avoid being slammed back into the bars.  One attacker’s hand had struck the rail and Peter could hear the bones break.  It had been a blur, mostly.  Fists, shouts, hands and furious words.  When all was said and done Peter knew he’d come off the best despite being the victim.  Without the enhancements Peter was quite sure he’d have been going from the nurse to the hospital for a concussion or worse.  Those bars had not been very forgiving.

Hands shoved in his pockets Peter moved slowly through the snow, ignoring the flairs of pain and the bite of the cold that was now working to sink into his very bones.  A couple blocks from the Tower and it started snowing.  Great big fat flakes fluttered from the sky, clinging to his black coat and brown hair.  A flake managed to get caught on an eyelash and Peter pulled his hand out of his pocket to brush it away.  The winter wind chilled his hand before he shoved it back into his pocket.

Eventually Peter staggered into the elevator with the note clutched in his fist.  This wasn’t good.  Damn black-eye wasn’t healed and the cut on his cheek was more than evident.  Maybe his dad had forgotten the whole bully thing?  You would think being Spider-Man he’d have been able to get out of that fight.  _But no_.  There was no point in continuing to lament about the visible evidence on his face and Peter idly wondered what lovely color his side was, how far the bruise traveled up his torso.

“JARVIS?  Where is dad?” his voice was soft, cautious and Peter held his breath.  Breathing carefully so as to not agitate his injuries further.

“He is down in the workshop.  I’m sure he would enjoy a distraction.” The AI offered helpfully, but Peter was just waiting for JARVIS to rat him out.  The AI was great at noting injuries on the Avengers so what was going to stop him from seeing Peter’s?

“I don’t want to bother him.  I know he has been working hard.” Peter looked down at the paper in his hand and moved towards the kitchen.  He’d missed lunch because of the fight happening in second period and was starving.  Food sounded amazing.

Unfortunately it was not a day of luck and Steve was in the kitchen in his workout clothes.  He was currently making a rather impressive sandwich and Peter wondered if he’d ever seen Steve with that big of a sandwich before.  It was huge.

Peter started to pivot to escape back out of the kitchen, but Steve caught the movement out of the corner of his eye.  “Peter!  What are you doing home from school already?”

“Short day…” he kept his head turned slightly, but could hear Steve moving towards him.  cursed his luck once more.

“What’s wrong?  Did something happen?  Are you alright?” the concern was so present in Steve’s voice that Peter winced.  Of all the Avengers in the whole Tower he had to run into Steve Rogers.  This was horrible luck.

“Nothing.  Really it’s not—” it was cut off by Steve’s hand that carefully grasped his chin and turned his head.  A gasp escaped and Steve’s blue eyes were narrowed on the injuries that Peter knew were still present.

“That doesn’t look like nothing to me.  Is it those bullies?  Did they hit you?” Steve’s hand was steady and kept ahold of Peter’s face so the teenager couldn’t avoid his gaze.

His shoulders slumped, eyes looking away and Peter wanted to sink into the floor.  He was pathetic.  Getting punched, knocked into bars and letting a group of jerks gang up on him.  Being Spider-Man meant he should not be getting bullied or picked on or victimized.  Peter wanted to say these things, wanted to assert that he was _not_ being bullied and it was fine.  Everything was fine and the bruises would fade, the cut would heal.  There was nothing to worry about.  Nothing to focus on.  He just wanted food.

“Yes.” His voice was small and all those words faded to the background because it wasn’t time.  Some day.  _Maybe_.

Steve’s hand moved from Peter’s jaw to wrap carefully around his shoulders.  “Let’s get that cut cleaned up and some ice on that bruise.” He led Peter out of the kitchen, leaving the sandwich abandoned the counter, towards the nearest first-aid kit.  Steve grabbed the kit and began cleaning the cut before putting a couple butterfly bandages on it to keep it together so the cut could heal correctly.  “Where else are you hurt?”

Peter glanced down at his side before carefully pulling up the shirt to reveal a bruise on his side trailing up his ribs.  “I got knocked into the railing.”

“Pete…” a sigh, “We’ll ice that up.  Have you eaten yet?” Steve was careful, hands barely touching and Peter wondered how long it had taken Steve to get used to the superhuman strength.  How many things he’d broken.

“No.  Happened in second period.  Principal sent me home after.” He followed Steve back towards the mini freezer specifically for icepacks that the Avengers needed far too frequently.  The soldier had several wraps to secure the packs.

He sat there, arms elevated as Steve wrapped him up and kept the icepacks securely on the bruised side.  Peter held an icepack to his eye and watched as Steve made him a sandwich before making himself another.  The one from before was missing.  It was safe to assume Thor had grabbed it or Clint.  Peter would place money on Thor.  That man could eat.  Then Steve was making a smaller sandwich that he placed back into the fridge.  Probably to bring down to his dad after.  Peter knew that he’d gotten into a project and didn’t want to leave it alone for very long or he just forgot that eating was one of those basic human functions.  One of the two.

“You want to tell me what happened?”

“No.  But I will anyways because you’re the hardest person to lie to on the planet.  It’s kind of annoying.” Peter looked at him with the one eye not covered by the icepack.  “A group of guys caught me from behind, I got knocked into the railing, managed to avoid getting hit into that again and got into a scuffle that resulted in this.  I’ve been suspended from school for three days.  I have to get dad to sign a piece of paper for school about my suspension.”

“I don’t like bullies.” Steve spoke carefully, “I never have.  It doesn’t matter where they’re from or who they are.  It’s good to stand up for yourself as long as it doesn’t go too far.  Why were you trying to hide it?  Why were you suspended for being attacked?”

“Because I shouldn’t have let them get a jump on me.  I’m almost sixteen.  This shouldn’t still be happening.  I don’t honestly know.”

“I used to get beat up in back allies, parking lots and behind buildings.  All the time.” Steve confessed with no shame in his voice and honest eyes as Peter stared at him.  “There isn’t a magical age where it goes away.”

“But you’re Captain America.” There was slight confusion and for a moment Peter almost forgot that Steve had not always been big like he was now.

“I was Steve Rogers first.  This scrawny boy from Brooklyn who wouldn’t run away.  I had a list and a half of health problems, rejected multiple times when I tried to join the army.  You’re fifteen, Peter.  You’ll come into your own, but there are bullies everywhere.  It’s a sad truth of life.  You just have to try not to become one yourself.  Don’t compromise yourself or your morals.  Whatever you chose to do please don’t compromise yourself.”

“It is hard to believe.  Especially looking at you now.” Peter offered a slight grin, felt it pull at the cut on his face and bit back a noise of frustration.  “I won’t.”

“Good.” Steve nodded, “Sometimes I look in the mirror and it takes me a second to realize that is me looking back.  I’m still not used to being so tall or big.  I’m sure some day every time I look in the mirror I won’t have that moment of pause, of surprise.” Steve grinned at him, trying for understanding because he _knew_ Tony was not going to take that black-eye well and he wanted to give Peter a little bit of calm before the coming storm.  Tony wouldn’t take it the icepack too well either.  Or the cut.  Or the bruised side.  And especially not the fact that Peter was suspended from school because several bullies attacked him.  It was not something Steve was looking forward to.  He’d bet there was going to be a rant later once Peter was out of the room.  Possibly a plan for revenge.

He looked towards the clock and mentally started counting down.  JARVIS was supposed to alert Tony that it was lunch and convince the genius that eating was necessary.  Especially since he’d been holed up down there for a while.

“I’m alive!  See, nothing to worry about honestly Steve.  Unless you want me to come up here for—” Tony’s voice cut off as he walked into the kitchen and saw Peter sitting at the island with Steve.  An icepack held to his face and it appeared there was one wrapped around his side.  The man was moving across the kitchen at a steady clip as he moved Peter’s hand away from his face exposing the injuries.  Brown eyes were focused in and narrowed, “What happened?  Are you alright?” he moved closer to examine the bandages and the slowly healing bruise.  “Who did this?  Do you know where they live?”

Peter blinked in surprise as a blush covered his cheeks, “You’re overreacting.  Seriously overreacting.” He tried to move away, but Tony was firmly in his space.  He was in full protective parent mode.  Peter was vaguely frightened for those idiots at school.

“I’m most certainly _not_ overreacting.  Someone _hurt_ you and I will not stand for that.” Tony’s eyes were steel, his voice hard and it was more than evident that Tony was not backing down.  That his dad meant business and this was only the beginning.  Best to nip that in the bud quickly before blood was shed.

“Promise me you’re not going to the school.  Promise me or I’ll say nothing.” He was not backing down on this.  His dad did not need to be thrown in jail no matter how temporary it might be until someone bailed him out.

A growl escaped from Tony as his eyes looked away and Peter could see that mind going a million miles a second.  Then his dad’s eyes were back on Peter and the racing thoughts had obviously been calmed.  “I promise I won’t go to your school.”

“Great.  I’m going to need you to sign something when I’m done.” Peter looked over at his bag he’d left on the floor, the paper on the floor next to it.  “For school that is…not like a binding contract saying you won’t go to my school because that would be a total overreaction and now I’m babbling…”

*

Thor clutched Mjölnir in his hand as his deep red cape billowed in the wind; snow clung to the fabric as he took a deep breath before exhaling.  “A fine day to avenge the honor of young Peter.”

“A very fine day.” Natasha grinned at him as she stood next to the god of thunder outside of Peter’s school.  “Tony was not happy he couldn’t be here today.”

“Peter should have known better when he made Tony promise that there are ways of getting around such a vague request.” Steve sighed as he looked up; Tony had been very adamant that Captain America be one of the individuals going in his place.  Thor had been rather furious that someone had attacked his little buddy, the only one who he could talk about Loki with, and Natasha was not going to be left behind.  Plus she took it as a personal insult that someone had attacked one of the few people she honestly liked.

Steve was sure that Tony was silently stewing in the Tower with Peter working on his homework.  At least that was how they had left them.  Poor Peter had no idea what was happening. 

The ensuing rant that Tony had presented him with after Peter had finished his lunch and retired to his room had been impressive.

“ _How dare they attack my son!  School is supposed to be a place of learning and finding out what you love in life.  Or finding a girlfriend.  Or boyfriend depending on what you prefer.  Just because Peter is a fucking genius and those brats can’t appreciate someone who is so far above them it isn’t even funny is no excuse for punching him!  Did you see his face?  His side?  What kind of school is that?  Suspending Peter when he was the one attacked!  They could have killed him.  The kid doesn’t fight people; he doesn’t have very much muscle on him yet!  He is like a brunette version of you before the serum!  Only not as small, but still.  Peter needs some more self-defense training or maybe I should build him something…”_

The rant had gone on for a long time; it was long and winded, by the end Tony had wound himself up so much.  Steve was pretty sure he could practically see Tony’s blood pressuring shooting through the roof.  The shorter man was going to give himself some kind of a heart attack.  But fortunately instead of the rant continuing Tony had decided to go find Thor.  And proceeded to tell him what had happened to Peter.  That moment was what led them to standing outside in the snow in front of Peter’s school.  Maybe it was unfortunate that Tony had went to find Thor.

“Fellow warriors we have a quest ahead of us.  To defend Peter’s honor!” with those words Thor was moving towards the doors with Natasha falling into step behind him and Steve reluctantly following them. 

“Why do I think this is not going to end well?” Steve muttered as they pushed through the front doors.  Eyes turned to stare at them and Steve could see the particularly gleeful expression dancing across Natasha’s face.

Almost two hours later the three of them were standing in front of Coulson, still in their uniforms, who was staring at them with the most unimpressed look in the entire world.  “I have had Director Fury _yelling_ in my ear for the past thirty minutes about three of ‘my’ Avengers terrorizing the Principal of a local High School and several students.  Do you have anything to say for yourselves?”

“Besides _why_ you didn’t bring me?!” Clint scowled at them from the couch, arms crossed over his chest not moving his eyes from the guilty members of his team.

Peter was just standing there staring at them in horror, the same expression he’d had on his face when the call had come in for Coulson and the other man had informed him of the incident at his school.  “ _Why would you do that_?”

Thor turned to look at Peter, “I do not stand aside idly while my friends are attacked.” He was painfully sincere as he looked at Peter.  “You and your character were assaulted; instead of providing justice against your attackers you were punished.  It was not right.”

Seeing no help from there Peter turned to Steve, “And your excuse?” his foot tapped on the floor because really Steve was supposed to be level headed.

“I don’t like bullies.” It was simple.

Natasha wasn’t even going to wait for the question, “I like you.” It was the only explanation needed from her.  Peter knew how Natasha was when she actually liked you.  “I didn’t like them.” Was the lovely follow up.

“No one fucks with my son and gets away with it.” Tony spoke from the door way and that summed the whole thing up quite nicely, “Tell Fury he can kiss my ass because I asked them to go.  Peter made me promise not to go to his school otherwise you’d have heard about Iron Man visiting a school today.  There might have been blasts I’m not sure.”

“Thor destroyed the Principal’s office with Mjölnir.” Coulson was still speaking calmly.

“That man was not reasonable.” Thor pouted slightly, his hammer rested on his belt as he crossed his arms clearly unrepentant.  “Had the man not laughed at me I would not have been forced to retaliate.”

“And the two young men who pissed themselves and passed out?” Coulson’s eyes were already moving towards the culprit.

“I regret nothing.” Natasha grinned at Clint who winked, but Peter was quite sure the archer was still annoyed at not being there for the show.  There might have been arrows in the story otherwise.

“What about the broken phones and cameras?” now there was a slight strain to his voice at the question.

Steve blinked; eyes big and blue.  “Tony only said the device would prevent anything incriminating from being recorded.  I did not know it would destroy all the technology in the basic area!”

Peter was just staring at them trying to wrap his mind around the picture that was being painted before turning to Tony who looked far too smug for the destruction he’d caused.  “Can I transfer schools?  Please?” it was pleading and he didn’t care.  There was no way he could go back there.  It just wasn’t possible.

“Steve punched the Principal.” Natasha answered calmly as Coulson’s eye started to twitch, but Peter knew he wouldn’t say anything to Steve or at least wouldn’t be as hard on him as he would have been had it been Tony.

“Why?” Clint was completely curious and leaning forward as if that would allow him to get a better view of the possible carnage.  Steve punching someone was slightly out of character; there needed to be a very good reason.

“The Principal made a negative comment about Peter.  I’ll not repeat it.” the chin tilted stubbornly even as a slight blush formed on his cheeks.

“Steve did not take that well.” Natasha was smirking now.  “He really did not take that well at all.”

Tony jerked Steve down into a kiss, “You _punched_ the Principal of Peter’s school?  You are without a doubt my hero for that!  Oh to have been there to witness it…” there was a wistful note to Tony’s voice.

“Stark.  That is not what is needed here.  You three caused destruction to a government run institution, traumatized several teenagers and assaulted a man.  This I’m more than sure has cancelled out the positive PR that your attendance at the children’s event created.  Stark the whole incident is your fault!”

“So…about transferring to a new school?” Peter was staring at Tony with pleading eyes and Tony found himself grinning.  The fury from before was obviously lessoned because something had been done about the injustice.

“Sure.  We’ll put you in a school that will appreciate someone of your intelligence.  There are several options and we can take the weekend to go over them.  I say this moment in history, Steve punching Peter’s Principal, deserves something…Who wants some Shawarma?  I could go for some Shawarma!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait! Had hoped to get this out Thursday so I hope it was worth the wait!
> 
> Extra note: I've been asked several times about what the principal says to Steve to upset him. It was not included in the chapter because it didn't fit, plus Steve was not going to say something in front of Peter.
> 
> This is basically what the man said to Steve, 
> 
> “If Peter didn’t seem so pathetic then maybe the other students wouldn’t see him as a victim. Maybe this will toughen him up. Boys will be boys after all.”


	13. Steve's Gamble

_“If Peter didn’t seem so pathetic then maybe the other students wouldn’t see him as a victim.  Maybe this will toughen him up.  Boys will be boys after all.”_

Tony’s eyes burned and fury climbed up his throat, choking him and bringing with it an almost insatiable need for action.  For vengeance against the man who was supposed to protect the students of his school; to provide a safe environment for learning and interacting.  But had _failed_ Peter.  Had failed his son and believed that Peter deserved the torment on some level.  That his son was a victim and was pathetic.

The words that had fallen from Steve’s lips when he had forced the other man to tell him what had driven him to physical violence seared themselves in Tony’s mind.  All Tony wanted to do was go to the hospital, because that had to be where the man was now after being punched by Captain America, in order to ring that bastard’s neck.  But he could settle for completely destroying his life starting with his job and any potential job he might seek in the future.  You didn’t fuck with Tony Stark without consequences and you sure as hell didn’t fuck with his son without absolute destruction looming in your future.  It was one of those facts.  He took a deep breath, closed his eyes and shoved the rage back.  Allowed a cold, calculating mindset with plans of action to fly through his mind.

It was for the best, really.  Killing the man wouldn’t do Peter any good and jail didn’t suit Tony no matter how many times Pepper had bailed him out over the years.  Plus Peter would feel inclined to visit him with Steve and those jumpsuits were not flattering on anyone.  Tony would stick with his band shirts or sharp suits when the situation called for it.

Fortunately it was relatively easy to get someone with Peter’s grades into a new school.  It had not been easy to continue to curb Tony’s more vindictive tendencies after Steve had uttered those words.  Honestly when Steve thought about it rage might not be a strong enough term to describe the look that had crossed Tony’s face.  Or the tension that had filled his body.

The school finally chosen wasn’t as close and Tony did not like that, but Peter knew most of the kids and it had been the school he should have been in if not for his uncle’s death.  Only a couple of months into the new school and Peter had returned home with a crush.  A huge crush.  But he kept it to himself instead focusing on projects and talking to her on occasion.

*

Peter stared down at the statistics for his assignment.  The crime statistics for New York City for the year so far and felt sick to his stomach.  He could have helped if Spider-Man had been out at night.  If instead of staying home in the comfort of Avengers’ Tower he was out there saving people. 

Helping them. 

He’d been given a chance, abilities and he was wasting it basking in his teenage years.  It wasn’t right.  It wasn’t fair.  Steve Rogers wouldn’t have done it.  His eyes darted over to the place in his room he’d stored the suit and slowly Peter got to his feet.  With slightly shaking hands he carefully picked up the bag housing his Spider-Man costume and swung it on his shoulder before moving to exit the room.

Spider-Man was needed and he wasn’t going to sit around doing nothing.  The suit fit him perfectly clinging to his body, molding against the muscles he’d gained from the bite and those he’d worked hours for in the gym.  Peter pulled on the wrist shooters and covered up his outfit with clothes from earlier in the day.  Silently he moved through the hallways towards the elevator before taking it down to the main lobby, but not before informing JARVIS he’d be at the library.

Best to keep his dad from worrying.

No one stopped him; no one questioned his comings and goings because Peter Parker was responsible.  Wasn’t someone you normally had to worry about.  The weather was far nicer than it had been in a while.  Snow had been completely melted for a while now and the skies were clear.  Spring had set in and once he flung himself off the first building, swinging through the air a sigh of happiness escaped.  He’d missed this.  Missed so much the free feeling of falling, flying through the air and the knowledge that he could make a difference to someone.  That he could help.  He arced back up into the air shooting another web and letting out a whoop into the night’s sky.  New York City was lit up before him, cars moved below him on the busy streets and people moved about.

That night Spider-Man once more came on the radar of the NYPD, SHIELD, the Avengers and Captain Stacy who released a sigh when he got the first report of the masked vigilante surfacing once more.

“I really hope you know what you’re doing, son.” He murmured to himself as he closed his eyes, hands still holding onto the report and a feeling of worry moved through him.  The boy was still far too young.  Far too young for such a task and Captain Stacy hoped with every fiber of his being that Peter would not encounter another threat like before.  That he would not take such abuse trying to save others.  Resolve to help lessen some of the problems that would come with Spider-Man’s return settled in as he opened his eyes to look through the information provided to him.

Part of him itched to reach for the phone, to dial Tony Stark and make sure the man knew what exactly his charge was up to at night swinging through the air.  But he wouldn’t interfere.  He would help when it was needed, cover up Peter’s tracks when possible and pray that the teenager would be safe.  He wasn’t aware he’d be seeing the boy sooner rather than later.

*

“You have got to be kidding me.” Tony muttered staring at the report that Coulson had dropped in front of him.

“Why would I “kid” you?” Coulson cocked an eyebrow and watched as Tony’s eyes moved over the words on the paper.  “The reemergence of Spider-Man is worrying. SHIELD is unaware of his identity, what his purpose is and if he has a motive.  The Director wants to either recruit him or if he is a threat eliminate him.”

Tony blinked up at Coulson, “Eliminate him?  Seriously?  So far all I have heard about Spider-Man is that he has saved New York and is helping citizens on the streets.  I’m not getting anything sinister from any of that.  And I think he might be better off without SHIELD interference.  So far the guy is doing good and isn’t causing any harm.  The press is roasting him for no apparent reason, but he keeps saving people.  What is wrong with that?”

He leaned back in his seat and regarded Coulson with a slightly challenging look on his features.  The agent opened his mouth to respond when the glass doors slid open to reveal Peter who had just typed in his code.  Phil’s mouth snapped shut as he glanced over at the teen before looking back at Tony.

“Honestly?  You’re not going to answer because Peter is here?  Now I’m insulted.” Tony scowled before looking down at the report and flipping the page back.  He closed the folder and looked up once more.  “Look here, Agent.  I will not be a part of helping SHIELD catch Spider-Man.  The guy is doing a great job saving people, helping citizens of New York City and I think SHIELD should just back the fuck off.  Fury has failed on several accounts with how he has handled the Avengers and we don’t need him dropping the ball on another hero.  Leave Spider-Man alone until he does something violent or worrying that actually requires intervention.  But until our returned hero moves from saving people to mayhem I think it is safe to say he is one of the good guys.  Iron Man was not a part of SHIELD; was an unknown who caused little to no problems and I’m seeing something similar here.  SHIELD should focus on those who are actual threats.” He picked up the file and shoved it into his desk.

Coulson nodded and took a step back from Tony’s desk where the man had been tinkering with something.  “Your advice is noted, Stark.  I have said something similar to Director Fury, but he insists on what we discussed.”

“Well I insist that he backs off.  That is my final word on it.” the annoyed expression on his features cleared when he looked over at Peter.  “Ready to start working on that engine, Peter?” he grinned.  “We’re going to see how you do designing your own and then look it over first, how does that sound?”

“Great.” Peter grinned back while willing his heart to stop pounding in his chest.  His breathing was controlled, but the panic was eating at his mind.  Looks like Spider-Man needed to be a little more careful with SHIELD and look out for possible interference.  Part of him wanted to stomp his foot like a little child and pout at the injustice of Fury causing problems.  Another part was so happy that his dad had stood up for him even if it was unknowingly.

Peter almost asked Tony for the advice he needed, but decided that there might be a better option in the tower.  “Excellent.” Tony clapped his hands and moved towards him as Phil moved towards the exit, glancing back at them before moving out the door and up the steps.

It was hours later that Peter moved upstairs with his book bag while Tony stayed back in the lab working on some project for Stark Industries that Pepper was threatening him about.  Peter had forced down the laugh threatening to bubble up when Pepper’s voice had blasted through the lab as she had laid into Tony about not meeting deadlines.

Peter dropped his bag outside of the kitchen and hopped up onto a stool.  Brown eyes stared at the only other occupant in the kitchen as he struggled with his own thoughts.

“Steve?” it barely came out and part of Peter wondered if he could grab the name out of the air, shove it back inside and pretend he’d never spoken out loud.  But you can’t do that and Peter knows that far too well.

Steve turned from the cabinet where he’d been putting up dishes.  “Yes?” complete concentration on him and Peter dug deep for confidence.  For the words he needed.

“How do you _not_ embarrass yourself in front of a girl you like?  Because I’m failing at it…miserably.” His cheeks burned from embarrassment.  Peter ran a hand through his hair, took a steadying breath and finally met Steve’s eyes.

A soft smile was on Steve’s face and it was reassuring on some level.  He wasn’t laughing or taking amusement out of this.  Which was so very good.  “I’m not sure I have the best advice for not embarrassing yourself in front of a girl.  I was horrible at interpreting them and even did a poor job with Tony for so long.  Who is not a girl.” He chuckled.  “My best advice is to be yourself.  If you can’t be yourself around her then the relationship won’t work.  It won’t be honest or true.  If she deserves you then she’ll be interested in you for who you are and not who you’re trying to be.”

Peter released a sigh, “I don’t want to change myself for her…I just trip up on words sometimes.”

Steve sat down next to Peter watching the teenager who was tugging at his shirt in a nervous manner, “Have you spoke with her before?”

“Yeah.  In class or for projects.  I went to school with her before.” He spoke softly staring down at the table before looking up at Steve.

“Hmm.  Do you have anything in common?”

“Science.” Peter muttered twitching slightly as those blue eyes turned thoughtful.  “When did you know you were interested in dad?” and Peter didn’t want _details_ about them, but it might be helpful.

“Almost at the very beginning.  But we had a _very_ rocky start.  We had to apologize and start over.  Build the friendship before I decided to take a gamble.  I dragged him all over the city to so many different places and he followed me, asking questions and answering mine.  Museums may not be his interest, but he indulged me.  Sometimes it is just spending time with each other.  Just talking.  Being with that other person.  But friendship is a great start if you’re worried.”

Peter nodded, filing away the information and honestly thinking the words over.

“Whoever she is she would be lucky to catch the attention of such an amazing person.” Steve grinned at Peter as the teenager looked up at him with wide eyes.  “Don’t worry.  You’re a kind, caring and intelligent young man.  I can’t think of a single negative thing against you.”

Without warning Peter moved across the space between them and wrapped his arms around Steve, hugging the man and closing his eyes as he felt those strong arms wrap back around him.  Safety in every cell of Steve’s body and care coming off him in waves.  It reminded him of his dad.  Of when the other man hugged him, comforted him and gave him a home.  When his dad spoke to him and cared about him all the time.

“Thanks, Pops.” He whispered against Steve as he felt the arms tighten briefly in acknowledgement.  It was nice to have so many people who cared about him.  Peter felt safe and content and assured.  It was nice having two people fill parental roles for him and he was sure that Steve was not going anywhere.

*

“You should come over for dinner.” Gwen smiled at him hugging her books against her body, eyes dancing as she looked at Peter standing so very awkwardly in front of her.  His heart stopped and kicked up again, pounding in his chest and excitement bubbled up.  He could do this.  He could be Spider-Man and Peter Parker and have a healthy relationship with the beautifully amazing girl in front of him who had a smile that caused warmth to curl up in his stomach.  Who consumed his mind far more than he had thought possible.

He could love someone with such a beautiful smile and caring personality.  Someone funny and witty and perfect in so many ways that he failed in.  Peter knew this could work and he wanted to keep going forward.  That meant “meeting” the parents and the family and awkward family dinners with Gwen’s family.  He couldn’t wait to show her off to his dad.  To his family because he wanted to.  Was proud that she was his girlfriend and that he’d gathered the guts to ask her out.  She liked him for himself and it was amazingly insane.  But he wasn’t questioning it.  Nope.  Was not going to question it at all.

“Yeah.  Sounds great.” He tugged on his sleeve, shuffling slightly on his feet and meeting Gwen’s eyes because they were one of his favorite things to look at.

That perfect smile lit up her face once more sending more warmth through his body.  Was this what people normally felt?  Was _this_ normal?  Because even if it wasn’t he loved the feeling and wanted to keep it.  To store it up.

“Great.” She moved her books slightly, shifting them as she pulled out a pen before writing an address on a piece of notebook paper.  Somehow she stored the pen, ripped the paper off and moved towards him holding it out with hope on her features as he reached out to grab it from her.

Students moved through the hallway around them, but it was only them that mattered and there was no doubt that a dopey grin was on his face as he clutched at the piece of paper.

“How about tomorrow…at seven?” she asked pushing a strand of hair behind her ear and shuffling the books in her arms once more so they were held onto with both hands.

“I’ll be there.”

“Great.” Now they were standing there just grinning at each other and Peter could honestly do this forever because Gwen made him feel things.  Lit up his world and filled him with warmth.  He’d do just about anything for this girl he’d watched defend others, corral bullies and shine brightly in front of the class.  Whose intelligence was stunning and refreshing.

She spun around slowly with the grin still there on her face, glancing back over her shoulder at him with one last grin before moving down the hallway away from him.  Peter watched her for a few more seconds before turning down the hallway towards his locker.

Happy was waiting outside for him and Peter was practically thrumming with excitement.  He called his thanks to Happy before getting into the elevator, riding it up to the main floor and moving through the living space.  Bag hitting the ground as he sought out two specific people.

They were in the kitchen.  Tony typing on his tablet and Steve picking up an apple.  “Gwen asked me to come over for dinner tomorrow!” his joy was not to be contained and Tony’s head jerked up from where it had been looking down.

An honestly proud grin moved across his features.  “Way to go Peter.  Meeting the parents.  Big deal.”

“Told you there was nothing to worry about.” Steve grinned back at him as Peter dropped himself into the seat next to his dad before reaching out to snag an apple for himself.  He took a bite and didn’t bother to contain his happiness because this was his family and they were happy for him.

“Just be careful with where you put your hands.” Tony couldn’t help himself, “You know her father has a gun and I don’t want to have to break out the Iron Man suit to save your ass from a crazy father.”

Peter’s features burned red as he ducked his head, “ _Daaaad_.” He whined earning a chuckle from both men as Tony slid his arm around Peter’s shoulder.  The man tugged Peter closer, giving him a one-armed hug and a reassuring smile.

“You’ll be ok.  No way they won’t love you.”

“Thanks.” He murmured, leaning against his dad because sometimes he enjoyed the comfort and safety he got from it.

Even Spider-Man needed family.

*

He’d had the ring for weeks.  Had a strategy and a time and a place and the words all planned.  Everything.  But sometimes plans fall through or something changes, something happens and you have to throw those ideas away.  Steve had come to realize when it came to Tony that nothing really ever went according to plan.  This was so very inconvenient and he questioned how he’d even gotten here in the first place.

They’d been going out for over a year and it was so hard to wait for something he honestly wanted more than anything else in the world.

This was supposed to be a team activity.  Paintball did not make sense to him when it came to team building.  But they’d been broken into pairs that they did not typically work together in during a fight.  Tony was with Natasha, Thor with Clint and Steve with Bruce.  Peter had been dragged along and was paired with Coulson.  So far he’d only seen Thor and Natasha; everyone had been shot multiple times mostly because they’d stopped taking it so seriously after several rounds of “organized exercises”.  Steve was suddenly slammed into and pinned to the ground.  Tony smirked down at him from behind his mask, paintball gun pointed at Steve and body language signaling ease.

“Caught you off guard, huh Cap?” there was smugness in his voice and it was very Tony.  It was rare to catch him off guard like this and Tony had gotten progressively sneaky.  That was good.  Gave him yet another edge if he was without the Iron Man armor.  “Do you give up and bow to my awesomeness?”

“Marry me.” Steve surprised himself.  It wasn’t planned, but he only wanted Tony.  No one else.

“What?” it was strangled, surprised and filled with so very many emotions.  The gun lowered uncertainly as Tony sat back on Steve.  His body leaning slightly backwards in shock as he still angled his face towards Steve who was staring up at him wondering if he’d honestly said that out loud, but knowing he had.  “What did you say?” it was soft now, confused and slightly wary.  It wasn’t the confident voice of Tony Stark.  There was an honest vulnerable note to the tone and Steve wanted to drag Tony down into a kiss because he wasn’t leaving.

“Marry me.  I love you and I don’t want anyone else.” He pulled his mask off his face so that blue eyes stared up at Tony who still wore his.  Carefully Steve reached up and tugged it off revealing shocked brown eyes that were frantically searching his own for truth.  For certainty.

“Why would you want to marry me?  Steve…” Tony blinked, closed his eyes and focused.  It had come out of nowhere and honestly he couldn’t remember being thrown for a loop in such a way before.  This was so very unexpected and his mind was frantically trying to wrap itself around those two words he’d never thought would be directed at him in a million years even if the other person was at gunpoint.

“Because I love you Tony.  I wouldn’t ask if I wasn’t a hundred percent sure.” It was sincere and honest and those blue eyes were staring at him.  Warmth rushed through Tony and he grinned.

“Yeah.  I’ll marry you, Capsicle.” A smirk stole across Tony’s face at the nickname he’d used that had earned him an affectionate groan.  Something Tony wasn’t sure had been possible until the Avengers had taken him up on his offer to live at the tower.  Steve jerked him down in for a fierce kiss and Tony tangled his hands in Steve’s hair while a moan escaped, the paintball guns lay abandoned on the ground next to them.

Now he had to worry about wedding details and speaking with Peter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for the long hiatus with this story. Life has kept me VERY busy, but I've managed to get this chapter and the epilogue done which I will be posting shortly. Once I get my laptop back from getting fixed I will be focusing on Some Nights.

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry it took longer to post this then I had planned. Several prompts and plot bunnies caught my attention so I had to get those at least written down...two of the prompts I actually completed in one setting. Yay! Currently have seven documents open on my computer with stuff from this verse, prompt challenges and a few separate ideas. One a multi-chapter and the other one probably a long one-shot. I'm a bit of a multitasker and have been working on all of them...I know, I know. I have a problem! 
> 
> I'm nowhere NEAR finished with this series so never fear...there are far too many ideas for it.
> 
> Also Tony's hatred of all things Medical and needles is a bit of my own headcanon (though I've seen others who have similar headcanons as well). Then again I just keep inserting headcanon into this...so far a few have mentioned some of them. But they all have very good reasons I assure you ;)
> 
> Thanks for all the reviews and comments! I'm off to work on one of these other documents I have open!
> 
> EDIT: After receiving a few comments/questions etc on AO3/Tumblr I posted a version of my headcanon to explain his reaction. http://steve-capsicle-rogers.tumblr.com/post/29138642006/headcanon-tony-hates-medical  
> Hope this answers any and all questions...if not feel free to message me or something I'll be happy to respond/clarify anything!


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